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| September 18th is a significant date for all Doctors of chiropractic as this date marks the anniversary of the discovery of chiropractic. It was 112 years ago this Sept 18th in 1895, that DD Palmer, a self educated magnetic healer who himself was born on March 7, 1845, made the discovery of Chiropractic. The first chiropractic patient was Harvey Lillard. He had been deaf for about seventeen years after allegedly falling down and noticing a bump in his back and the simultaneous loss of his hearing. The second patient had heart trouble and both patients had their health restored through chiropractic adjustments. This event took place in the heartland of American in Davenport Iowa, along the banks of the Mississippi river. Today there are over 60,000 Doctors of chiropractic practicing world wide. Tens of millions of people around the globe benefit from chiropractic each year. Chiropractic is now the second largest non-medical form of health care today. And both the numbers of chiropractors, as well of the numbers of chiropractic patients continues to grow. So lets all remember the humble beginnings the great profession of chiropractic started with and wish it a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! |
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Many chiropractic patients ask, “How did chiropractic get started?” Well, chiropractic got started in Davenport Iowa a little over 100 years ago. In 1895 a “magnetic healer” as he was called, by the name of DD Palmer operated an office on the corner of Second and Brady street in downtown Davenport. Dr. Palmer, as he was known, noticed on that day the janitor who worked in his building was nearly totally deaf.  This janitor was a black gentleman by the name of Harvey Lillard. Upon questioning, (probably very loud questioning) Harvey explained to Dr. Palmer that he had lost most of his hearing 17 years earlier when he was bending over and felt a “pop” in his upper back or neck. Dr. Palmer examined the area and noticed a bump which he determined to be a spinal vertebrae out of position. It seemed that Harvey noticed this bump right after he lost his hearing. Having a knowledge of anatomy, Dr. Palmer convinced Harvey to allow him to try to fix it by pushing the bone back into place.History is uncertain as to whether it was one visit or several, but the result was Harvey got his hearing back! From that point DD  Palmer changed his practice over to this new method of replacing bones that were out of position and allowing people to heal. His practice grew and the profession of chiropractic was born.Within two years Dr. Palmer opened the first school of chiropractic on Brady Street in Davenport. It was his son Dr. BJ Palmer, who continued the school after the death of DD. It is the son BJ, who is given credit today for growing and developing the profession into what it has become today. |
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The father of chiropractic |
September 18th , is the anniversary of the first chiropractic adjustment and the birth of the chiropractic profession. DD Palmer gave the first adjustment to Harvey Lillard in 1895 in Davenport Iowa along side the Mississippi River. DD Palmer was himself a colorful figure. During his lifetime, Palmer would be a school teacher, a farmer - developing a new variety of raspberry, which he called "Sweet Home" - a grocer and eventually practicing as a "Magnetic Healer" in Davenport for a number of years prior to founding chiropractic. Magnetic healing had nothing to do with magnets. Rather it was a cross between massage and meridian therapies--which is based upon the concepts of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Magnetic healing rose up as an alternative to main stream medicine at the end of the Civil War. In 1895 it was still common for medical doctors to use blood letting as a method for curing disease. DD Palmer was practicing magnetic healing when the first chiropractic patient Harvey Lillard entered his office. Palmers own accounts of that historic event are as follows. "Harvey Lillard a janitor in the Ryan Block, where I had my office, had been so deaf for 17 years that he could not hear the racket of a wagon on the street or the ticking of a watch. I made 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 vertebrae racked from its normal position. I reasoned that if the vertebra was replaced, the man's hearing should be restored. 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. There was nothing "accidental" about this, as it was accomplished with an object in view, and the result expected was obtained. There was nothing "crude" about this adjustment; it was specific, so much so that no chiropractor has equaled it." For more history on the first chiropractic adjustment please visit the link http://www.subluxaware.com/history2.htm. |
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