When did chiropractic begin? The exact day is credited as September 18th, 1895. That makes September 18th of this year the 114th birthday of chiropractic.
What happened on this day? Chiropractic’s founder, Dr. D.D. Palmer, delivered the first chiropractic adjustment to a gentleman who was deaf. The patient, Harvey Lillard, had experienced a neck injury in his history that Dr. Palmer found. After getting adjusted, Mr Lillard’s hearing was restored, putting an end to over twenty years of deafness.
How did he develop the practice of chiropractic? Dr. Palmer had spent years caring for patients in hands-on, natural health care. He was a life-long student and learner. His study was the result of the question “Why does one person get sick while the person right next to him stays well?”
Over years of checking patients with his hands, he observed patterns of inflammation in the patients’ bodies. He surmised that there must be some sort of friction or mechanical issue creating heat. What he was observing was subluxation. He found that correcting the spinal subluxation allowed the nerve to function again, and the patient was able to heal.
By closely examining so many patients, he became trained in observing the effects that subluxation causes in the body. Over the course of his life, he created remarkably accurate maps of the nerve system and what a subluxation of each joint in the spine would affect. He wrote extensively as well, leaving records of his work and clinical success with nearly every type of case.
What about the word “Chiropractic?” It is pronounced Ki’ Ro Prak’ Tik. Chiropractic, which is practiced by Doctors of Chiropractic, is from two Greek words, translated as “done by hand.”
How much has the profession grown? Chiropractic is now the world’s largest non-drug, non-surgical form of health care and the second largest form of health care in the world. It is formally recognized and supported by the U.S. Government and all fifty state governments, as well as by countries around the world.
How did chiropractic spread from its humble beginnings? Through clinical success with patient after patient, restoring and increasing their health. The success chiropractors had with their patients during the Flu Pandemic of 1918 (just after World War I), led to the rapid enactment of state licensure laws throughout the country.
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