The History of Chiropractic

As a member of the health care field, chiropractic is relatively young. It has come a long way in the 100 years of its existence, changing from a rudimentary procedure to a highly precise and regulated practice.

The Beginning: 1895

The first adjustment is believed to have occurred in 1895, by the soon-to-be founder of chiropractic, Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer. Palmer was a Canadian native who moved to the United States in 1875. In the wake of the Civil War, Palmer traveled between Midwestern towns, selling fresh fruit to make a living. His first foray into the healing arts didn’t occur until he was 40 years old, when he moved his family to Burlington, Iowa, in order to learn the techniques of magnetic healing, a then popular treatment. He opened Palmer Cure & Infirmary a few years later.

Palmer had been practicing magnetic healing for 10 years when he, on a whim, made the first adjustment that would spur him to found the field of chiropractic. According to many, the story began when a deaf janitor, Harvey Lillard, was cleaning Palmer’s office after hours while Palmer worked at his desk. Palmer inquired about Lillard’s deafness, and Lillard managed to communicate that he had been able to hear, until he had heard a “pop” in his back while stooping over, some years before.

Palmer surmised that the back problems and the hearing were connected, and decided to attempt to correct Lillard’s vertebrae. According to the World Chiropractic Alliance, Palmer wrote in his notes afterwards, "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."

The Early Years: 1898-1913

Word of Palmer’s healing hands spread, and he was soon correcting people’s spines in his infirmary on a regular basis. He renamed his office Palmer School of Infirmary & Chiropractic, and began teaching students his techniques. He chose “chiropractic” as the name of his technique, since the Greek word “chiro” means hand.

While Palmer seemingly stumbled upon his technique by a happy accident, he wasn’t satisfied to continue blindly adjusting people without improving his techniques. He studied physiology and anatomy to determine what exactly happened in the vertebral alignments that alleviated pain; he decided that fixing the spine eliminated painful nerve interference.

The medical establishment of the time soon got wind of Palmer’s practice and began criticizing chiropractic as quackery. He was even thrown into jail in 1905, under the offense of practicing medicine without a license. At his trial, Palmer criticized modern medicine’s heavy reliance on medication and surgical techniques that could often be more harmful than helpful. He served 23 days of his sentence, and afterwards continued to persevere in his development of chiropractic. He taught his son B.J. his techniques, and published two books, The Science of Chiropractic and The Chiropractors Adjuster, before he died in 1913.

1913-Today

Despite its early obstacles, after D.D. Palmer’s death, the technique of chiropractic continued to be used. In 1913, Kansas was the first state to begin licensing the practice of chiropractic. In the ‘40s, John Nugent set up an accrediting board to evaluate chiropractic schools, and in 1944 the G.I. Bill’s provisions included schools of chiropractic as educational options for veterans.

By the 1970s, all states were licensing chiropractors, and Medicare began including chiropractic as a covered form of care. Since then, chiropractic’s acceptance has only continued to grow, even though pushback from the medical establishment still exists.

Sources:

The History of Chiropractic. (2011) The World Chiropractic Alliance.

Significant Events in Chiropractic’s History and Development. (2011) Palmer Chiropractic College.

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