The History of Chiropractic
Dr. Daniel David Palmer, a teacher and healer who was born in Ontario, performed the first recorded chiropractic adjustment on September 18, 1895, more than 105 years ago. At the time, Dr. Palmer was trying to understand the cause and effect of diseases. The patient, Harvey Lillard, was a janitor working in the same building as Dr. Palmer in Iowa. Mr. Lillard had bent over, under the stairs, hurt his back and had complained of hearing problems as a result for over 17 years.He allowed Dr. Palmer to examine his spine to see if anything could be done. Dr. Palmer discovered a "lump" on Harvey's back and suspected that a vertebra might be out of "alignment" and "pinching" a nerve to Harvey's ears.With an admittedly unrefined technique, Dr. Palmer adjusted the vertebra with a gentle thrust.After several such treatments, Harvey's hearing was restored.
This dramatic beginning caused much excitement. Soon, exaggerated claims surfaced from zealots. Even Dr. Palmer thought at first he had discovered a cure for deafness. As these "miracle" stories became commonplace, the controversy surrounding chiropractic began. While it seemed reasonable to Chiropractors and patients to assume that their major diseases had been "cured," in many cases the problem was an error in the original diagnosis. The doctor may have assumed the patient had a heart problem when in fact the pain in the client's chest resulted from a rib spasm, not a heart problem.
For decades, science has recognized the existence of the nervous system and its role in controlling and directing the body's life-sustaining functions.
Dr. Palmer was correct with his reasoning that any pressure or restriction imposed on the nerve strands by a misalignment in the spinal segments must have an immediate or long term detrimental effect on those functions of the body served by the restricted nerves. The idea is that by correcting the misalignment, and given time for the body's natural recuperative powers to do their work, the ailment will disappear, not as a direct consequence of the adjustment, but because vital messages to and from the brain will once again be transmitted without hindrance.
Palmer called the message-carrying energized impulses which pass along various nerve strands - sensory, autonomic, sympathetic, parasympathetic, and so on - basically the "life-force," and he promptly earned the wrath of orthodox medicine. Anatomical research scientists have proved that energy, measurable energy, flows along the nerve strands. Chiropractic has now entered its second century having spread around the globe. Every day, Chiropractors bring relief from pain to millions of people within a sound, safe and evidence-based approach to health and wellness of the whole person. It is the largest non-drug, hands-on health care profession in the Western world.
