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History
VITALISTIC PHILOSOPHY
Birth of a Profession - September 18, 1895
Modern chiropractic emerged from a discovery by turn-of-the-century healer Daniel David Palmer. Harvey Lillard, a maintenance man working in Dr. Palmer's building, related to Palmer how he had become partially deaf many years earlier when, as he worked in a twisted position, he heard something "pop" in his spine. Palmer examined him and found a vertebra that was apparently displaced. He repositioned the bone and Lillard's hearing improved immediately. Within a week it had almost completely returned.
Palmer began to explore his new discovery which he named chiropractic - a combination of the Greek words cheir and praktikis, meaning "done by hand." His son B.J. went on to develop the theory and art of chiropractic and laid the groundwork for contemporary practice.
Although the act of replacing vertebrae into their proper position had been practiced for thousands of years, Palmer was the first to articulate the connection between the interference these misaligned bones caused to the nerve system and interference to the functioning of the body.
He reasoned that the body is controlled through the brain and nerve system by thousands of messages sent every second to control each structure and function within the body. The spinal cord is the road over which these messages travel. Palmer discovered that the bones of the spine that protect the spinal cord can, if misaligned, put pressure on the cord and small spinal nerves. This pressure can distort and block information coming from the brain. Ultimately, these misalignments, or vertebral subluxations, lessen the body's ability to function by disrupting communication over the nerve system.
Criticism of this new healing technique came from many, especially the medical community, as it did not involve the traditional medical theory of health. For years, chiropractic was discredited, made fun of and even referred to as quackery. A lot of this still goes on today, but, unfortunately, this is due to misunderstanding. Many people do not understand the concept of chiropractic and have only listened to the propaganda that's been broadcast. In fact, it wasn't until the early 1970s that insurance companies started to recognize chiropractic as legitimate health care and allowed claims to be paid for chiropractic care.
In 1897, Dr. Palmer opened his chiropractic school in Davenport, Iowa, calling it the Palmer Infirmary and Chiropractic Institute. The name was later changed in 1907 to Palmer School of Chiropractic. Enrollment at first was low, with only 24 students in 1906, but today there are over 20 schools with enrollment of over 10,000 students.
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