It took being injured in a car accident for Dr. Dana Grenman to finally find her calling in life: chiropractic care.
"We were T-boned in Houston, Texas," she said. "Kind of cut out of the car, emergency room, cut your pants, kind of situation. And then we were released pretty quickly. Nobody had any broken bones, and that's pretty much what they look for."
Originally from Israel, Grenman and her family immigrated to Hot Springs, where she attended Hot Springs High School. She later attended Sam Houston State University in Texas.
After the car accident in 2009, Grenman went to a chiropractor looking for some help.
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"It was a terrible experience," she said. "She didn't do anything for us. She referred us out for pain management and got us a bunch of medications and had a stew basically (of) physical therapy exercises that none of us were ready for, looking back.
"And my symptoms kept getting worse. She actually ended up firing us for being medically unmanageable."
After moving to Dallas, Grenman started seeing a different chiropractor, who diagnosed her with cauda equina syndrome, a condition occurring when the end of the spinal cord is damaged. She was told she needed surgery as soon as possible.
"I was having fecal incontinence, and urinary retention, and my right leg wasn't moving and it was just a disaster," she said. "And I was 24 years old, and it was terrible. So, within two days, I actually had a spinal fusion and then I walked the same day with a walker, and I did a lot of physical therapy."
Following her surgery, she came back home to Hot Springs, where her parents were able to help.
"And then, as soon as I was released from care by my surgeon, my mom was diagnosed with cancer," she said.
"And then the roles switched, and she went from being my caretaker to me being her caretaker.
"And then we decided, you now, that I was just gonna stay taking care of her. And I learned about nutrition, and I learned about all kinds of things, and we had a nature path helping us with her. And that's when I started thinking, like, 'I'm not in the right field.'"
Starting out in criminal justice, and then switching to the restaurant industry, Grenman said she "just wasn't really happy."
"I started realizing, like, 'I really wanna be in health care, I really wanna push for patients that are kinda getting lost in the system. And unfortunately, my mom passed away, and then I took an eight-week cross-country road trip by myself to figure out who I am."
She then found Palmer College of Chiropractic West Campus in California, where she said her life changed.
"It was just what I was supposed to do," Grenman said.
After meeting her husband in chiropractic school, the two decided to move back to Hot Springs to be closer to family. In 2021, they decided to open their own private practice called Aligned Family Wellness.
"We both love the family model," she said. "You walk in, and we want you to feel like you're in a family room. Kids come in, and they're like, 'Do you guys live here?' We think it's hilarious."
Aligned Family Wellness does not work with insurance, as decided by Grenman and her husband.
"My husband and I really decided not to work with insurance and in doing so, people pay out of pocket, and when you pay out of pocket, I feel like you are all ready to make strides in your own health and ready to take control of your life and your health. And so, we're making a difference by being different than everybody else."
She also specializes in pediatrics, prenatal and postnatal care, pelvic floor therapy and tailbone pain.
"By adjusting a newborn and a kid throughout their life, you're teaching them what it feels like to be in balance," Grenman said.
"You're teaching them what it feels like to have a parasympathetic nervous system that actually can rest and digest and can keep them in that cool, calm and collected state more often. And they'll know when they're out of balance as they get older," she said.
Dana Grenman specializes in chripractic care for prenatal and postnatal women, as well as infants and children. – Photo by Courtney Edwards of The Sentinel-Record