History of Chiropractic
The first recorded chiropractic adjustment was performed on September 18, 1895, more than 100 years ago, by Dr. Daniel David Palmer, a teacher and healer who was born in Port Perry, Ontario. At the time, Dr. Palmer was trying to understand the cause and effect of disease. The patient, Harvey Lillard, was a janitor working in the same building as Dr. Palmer in Davenport, Iowa. Mr. Lillard had been 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 Mr. Lillard's back and suspected that a vertebra might be out of "alignment" and "pinching" a nerve going to Mr. Lillard's ears. With an admittedly unrefined chiropractic technique, Dr. Palmer adjusted the vertebra with a gentle thrust. After several such treatments, much of Mr. Lillard's hearing was restored.
This dramatic beginning caused much excitement. Soon exaggerated claims surfaced from activists and chiropractic zealots. Even Dr. Palmer himself thought at first that he had discovered a cure for deafness. As these "miracle" stories became commonplace, the controversy surrounding chiropractic began. While it might have been reasonable for chiropractors and their patients to assume major diseases had been "cured", in many cases the problem was an error in the original diagnosis. The doctor making the diagnosis may have assumed the patient had a heart problem when in fact the pain in the patient's chest resulted from a rib sprain, not a heart problem.
One of Dr. Palmer's patients, a minister, is credited with creating the name "Chiropractic" for this new art and science of manipulation. He took the Greek words for "hand" (cheiros) and "done by" (praktos) and put them together to create Chiropractic, meaning "done by hand".
Without the leadership of the founder's son, Dr. Bartlett Joshua (BJ) Palmer, chiropractic might not have survived.
But survive it did. Chiropractic has rapidly grown to be third only to medicine and dentistry as the largest primary health care provider in the western world. The original Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa grew from 24 students in 1906 to 3,100 in 1923. Today, there are more than 23 chiropractic institutions throughout the world, including colleges in the United States, Australia, Japan, and England. Current enrollment at chiropractic institutions now exceeds 10,000 enthusiastic and dedicated students. Since Dr. Palmer's first chiropractic adjustment, the art and science of chiropractic has progressed significantly. Today, advanced diagnostic procedures, sophisticated equipment, scientific research and the growing acceptance among patients, governments and health care professionals make chiropractic a popular health care choice.
