In The Beginning . . . How It All Began.
Many chiropractic patients ask, “How did chiropractic get started?” The actual profession of chiropractic, as a distinct form of health care, dates back to 1895. The roots of chiropractic care can be traced all the way back to the beginning of recorded time. Some of the earliest healers in the history of the world understood the relationship between health and the condition of the spine. Hippocrates advised, "Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases."
Treatment of the spine was widely misunderstood until Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer discovered the specific spinal adjustment. He was also the one to develop the philosophy of chiropractic which forms the profession’s foundation. Chiropractic as a health profession has a unique and colorful history.
On September 18, 1895, D.D. Palmer was working late in his office when a janitor, Harvey Lillard, began working nearby; a noisy fire engine passed by outside the window, and Palmer was surprised to see that Lillard didn’t react at all. As he approached the man to try and strike up a conversation, he soon realized Lillard was partially deaf. Palmer managed to communicate with the man, and learned that he had normal hearing for most of his life. However, not long ago he had bent over in a cramped, stooping position, and felt something "pop" in his back. When he stood up, he realized he couldn’t hear. Palmer deduced that the two events, both the popping in his back and the deafness, had to be connected.
Mr. Lillard was convinced by Dr. Palmer to let him apply pressure to his spine, and after the treatment, Mr. Lillard could hear again. He was right! They were connected and chiropractic as a profession was born. Within two years of this discovery, Palmer opened the first School of Chiropractic on Brady Street in Davenport, Iowa. Years after Harvey Lillard's hearing was restored, the news media delighted in vilifying the pioneer chiropractor, whom they labeled as a "charlatan" and a "crank on magnetism." The medical community, afraid of his success and discouraged by its own failure to heal diseases, joined the crusade, writing letters to the editors of local papers, openly criticizing his methods, and accusing him of practicing medicine without a license. D.D. Palmer was even arrested for practicing medicine without a license.
At first he protested the verdict by not paying the fine of $350 and served twenty three days in jail. Dr. Palmer did finally pay the fine, but he steadfastly refused to let go of his fundamental belief in chiropractic as a separate and distinct profession. He also cautioned against introducing medicine into the body, saying it was often unnecessary and possibly even harmful. He stood up to his attackers, and it is this courage that started the right of chiropractic to exist as a distinct health care model, outside the mainstream Medical model.
Luckily D.D.’s son, Bartlet Joshua (B.J.) Palmer was as enthusiastic about chiropractic as his father and continued his father’s work. B.J. Palmer is credited with developing chiropractic into a clearly defined and unique health care system. He was instrumental in getting chiropractic recognized as a licensed profession. He took his father’s vision and advanced chiropractic to the largest non allopathic health care profession today.
Although the profession has advanced tremendously since the days of D.D. and B.J. Palmer, the basic tenets and understanding of chiropractic, being a drug-free method of correcting vertebral subluxations in order to remove nerve interference, still stand. If it were not for D.D. and B.J., Chiropractic may not exist today. Millions of patients receive the benefit of chiropractic adjustments, today, just for the health of it. Chiropractors continue to serve their communities, offering help and hope.
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