The Chiropractic profession dates back to 1895 when it was discovered by Daniel David Palmer (D.D.Palmer). D.D Palmer was born in 1845 in Ontario, Canada and moved to the United States when he was 20. He soon became friendly with a magnetic healer, a popular choice of therapy around that time. A few years later he moved Davenport Iowa and set up his first clinic, ‘Palmer cure and Infirmary’.
Palmer was working late one night when a fire engine went by his office. He realized that the janitor who was working did not flinch at the loud noise of the siren. He approached the janitor and soon realized that he was deaf. Palmer proceeded to communicate with the gentleman and it became clear that the janitor had normal hearing all his life until he bent forward one day and felt a pop in his back from a mis-aligned vertebrae. Palmer stated “I reasoned that if that vertebra was replaced, the man’s hearing should be restored,” he 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.”
From here, Palmer went on to see many patients with many different problems by repositioning misaligned vertebrae. He gave it the name chiro (hand), practic (practice or operation) and the chiropractic profession had arrived.
The chiropractic profession has advanced vastly since the times of D.D Palmer but the basic understanding and principles remain: by correcting spinal misalignments and removing nerve interference the nervous system will be allowed to function to its optimum capacity.
