The Origin Of Chiropractic Care
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"Chiropractic medicine dates back to the end of the 19th century when Daniel Palmer first developed systems for bonesetting and treating subluxations."
Medical doctors in one form or another have been around since the first civilizations thousands of years ago. But chiropracty has only been an established field of study and treatment for less than two hundred years.
The Father of Modern Chiropractic Medicine
Daniel David “D. D.” Palmer is generally credited with being the father of modern chiropractic treatment. According to various sources, Palmer performed his first adjustment in 1895 on a deaf janitor. His treatment combined elements of then-practiced treatments called bonesetting and magnetic healing.
How Subluxations were First Treated
In the 19th century, most physicians felt that fixing broken bones was not really worth their time or effort so patients went to a bonesetter. In addition to setting broken limbs, they also treated subluxations, which are partial dislocations. The treatment was to wrench the joint back into place.
In addition to discovering specific spinal adjustment Palmer also developed the philosophy of chiropractic treatment that became the foundation for the profession.
“I am not the first person to replace subluxated vertebrae,” Palmer once said, “but I do claim to be the first person to replace displaced vertebrae by using the spinous and transverse processes as levers...and to develop the philosophy and science of chiropractic adjustments.
About Daniel David “D. D.” Palmer
Palmer was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1845 and moved to the United States when he was 20 years old, eventually settling in Davenport, Iowa. In 1885, He became interested in magnetic healing and opened the Palmer Cure & Infirmary a couple years later.
In September 1895, Palmer learned that his office janitor, Harvey Lillard, had normal hearing for most of his life until the day he had been hunched over and felt something pop in his back. When he stood up, he couldn’t hear anymore. Palmer suspected the deafness and pop were related. So he checked the janitor’s back.
“I reasoned that if that vertebra was replaced, the man’s hearing should be restored,” he wrote in his notes. “With this object in view, a half hour’s talk persuaded Mr. Lillard to allow me to replace it. I racked it into position by using the spinous process as a lever, and soon the man could hear as before.”
Where did the Word Chiropractic Originate?
After that, Palmer perfected what he called hand treatments. He later coined the word chiropractic, which comes from the Greek words chiro (hand) and practic (operation).
He changed the name of his clinic to the Palmer School & Infirmary of Chiropractic and started accepting students in 1898.
Palmer believed spinal health affected overall health and could be the cause of myriad of ailments such as migraines because spinal adjustments to correct vertebral misalignments eliminated the nerve interference causing the patients’ complaints.
Although the chiropractic treatments have advanced significantly since Palmer’s time, the basic philosophy of a drug-free method of correcting vertebral subluxations remains.
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