Engagement Insider

Kristi De Saro was a freshman volleyball player at Central Lake College in Minnesota when an ankle injury helped define her future.

“We had a chiropractor who treated all of our athletes,’’ De Saro said. “When I hurt my ankle, I started getting care and I felt my performance getting better. It was right then that I knew what I wanted to do.’’

De Saro changed her curriculum, graduated and went on to Palmer College where she became a chiropractor.

“I remember being very young and going to a chiropractor with my parents,’’ she said. “They mainly went for pain relief. At that time I didn’t know all the benefits of the profession.’’

De Saro and her husband Andrew have been in business together since 1999 in Richboro, Bucks County, PA.

While several of their patients get treated for that same pain relief her parents did years ago, Kristi has educated several others on how chiropractic care can enhance performance, especially for athletes.

“Athletes seem to understand better than most how care can help them perform at their peak level.’’

De Saro, who has had several professional athletes as patients, most notably former Philadelphia Eagles Pro Bowl left tackle Tra Thomas. “That’s why it’s great working with athletes. And with an athlete it’s easy to measure that performance.’’

From that work with athletes, De Saro has started a one of a kind on-site chiropractic care. From what she had learned, a major reason more people don’t get adjusted, or don’t get adjusted as often as they should, is because of time restraints.

So De Saro changed the map.  

“We reached out to the public,’’ she said. “We’re on site. We go to them.’’

 The unique approach has added to De Saro’s innovative approach to the business. All she cares about, however, is helping people.

“I always knew I would get into health care in some capacity,’’ she said. “I wanted to help people, as well as inform them how to stay healthy. Once I learned more and more about chiropractic care, I knew that’s what I wanted.’’

When she started she was one of just a handful of women in the profession.

“It was definitely a male-dominated field,’’ she said. “There were advantages and disadvantages. But I never viewed being a female as a disadvantage; I always looked for the advantage. When there are less of you, people pay more attention.’’

Over the past 14 years that Kristi has practiced she’s watched the playing field become much more even.

“It’s much more balanced between men and women than it was,’’ she said. “If you look at enrollment in the schools it’s pretty much 50-50.’’

That may increase in a few years as well, the De Saro’s two oldest daughters, Eva, who is in high school and Brie, who is in middle school, are both interested in following their parents into chiropractic.

“I think it’s great,’’ Kristi said. “I couldn’t think of a better profession. But what I tell them or anyone interested in the field, is you need a good mentor to walk you through things. Your mentor is like your coach. And just like an athlete, you need to perform and be the best at your craft. You have to keep working at it to get better and better.’’