4th Century BC Greek relief of Asklepios
performing an ancient form of spinal
manipulation.
performing an ancient form of spinal
manipulation.
Bust of Herodotus
D.D. Palmer, The Founder of Chiropractic
Harvey Lillard, The recipient of the first
chiropractic adjustment
chiropractic adjustment
B.J. Palmer, The Developer of Chiropractic
B.J. Palmer adjusting a patient
UNDER CONSTRUCTION More History & pics on the way!!! |
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- 1500 B.C. The Greeks began recording
treatments for the lower back.
Herodotus became famous for curing
diseases by using therapeutic exercises
that corrected spinal abnormalities. If
the patient was too weak to perform his
exercises, Herodotus would manipulate
his spine. Aristotle criticized Herodotus
for not using tonics to cure disease. - 11th - 15th century "back-walking" was
used as a cure for diseases in Asia and
Europe. It has also been noted that
American Indians used to have children
walk on the back of the sick. - 1800's Medical doctors in Europe
shunned the art of bone-setting.
Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer: The Founder
- D.D. Palmer was born in Ontario,
Canada on March 7, 1845. - His family moved to the Mississippi
River valley shortly after the Civil War.
As a young adult, Palmer worked many
jobs including farmer and bee keeper. - In 1885, D.D. began studying magnetic
healing under Paul Caster. He opened
his practice in Burlington, Iowa, but
eventually moved his practice to
Davenport, Iowa. - In 1894, D.D. decided that inflammation
was the essential element of the cause of
disease. At the main site of
inflammation he would pour excess
magnetic energy to cool it off. - By 1895, he theorized that the cause of
"dis-ease" and inflammation was due to
the displacement of anatomic structures.
The First Chiropractic Adjustment
- He was working late on the night of
September 18, 1895, when the janitor,
Harvey Lillard, began working nearby.
Palmer noted in his book, The
Chiropractor's Adjuster, that Mr. Lillard
had been deaf for 17 years. "I made an
inquiry as to the cause of his deafness
and was informed that when he was
exerting himself in a cramped, stooping
position, he felt something give way in
his back and immediately became deaf.
An examination showed a vertebra
racked from its normal position...I
racked it into position using the spinous
process as a lever and soon the man
could hear as before." - In 1895, D.D. Palmer opened the first
chiropractic school in Davenport, Iowa
called the Palmer School of
Chiropractic. One of his first students
was his son, B.J. - D.D. Palmer died in 1913.
What's in a Name?
- A patient of D.D. Palmer, Reverend
Samuel Weed came up with the name
"Chiropractic". He took the Greek
words Cheiros "hand" and Praktos "done
by" and put them together to get
chiropractic = "done by hand".
Bartlett Joshua (B.J.) Palmer: The Developer
- B.J. graduated from the Palmer School in
1902. He is credited as developing the
chiropractic profession as it is known
today. He instituted improved methods
for analyzing and adjusting the spine,
higher standards in chiropractic
education, extensive research and, most
importantly, getting chiropractic licensed
as a profession.
Chiropractic History
The official profession of chiropractic began
with an adjustment on September 18, 1895 by
D.D. Palmer. Prior to this adjustment there
have been recordings in history of different
societies looking to problems of the spine as
the cause of disease and correction of these
problems as an instrument of health.
with an adjustment on September 18, 1895 by
D.D. Palmer. Prior to this adjustment there
have been recordings in history of different
societies looking to problems of the spine as
the cause of disease and correction of these
problems as an instrument of health.