In case you missed it, Chiropractic turned 120 this past month on September 18th. Below is a shortened release from the ICA on this event and the impact on healthcare in the world.
Chiropractic’s famous first adjustment is recognized each year as Chiropractic Founder’s Day. This annual observance commemorates September 18th, 1895 as on this day, 120 years ago, Dr. Daniel David Palmer, a pioneering clinician in Davenport, Iowa, administered the first specific chiropractic adjustment.
Dr. D.D. Palmer delivered his historic first chiropractic adjustment with the specific intent of realigning a malpositioned vertebra, found on his patient Harvey Lillard, to its normal healthy orientation. Mr. Lillard, who had lost most of his hearing 17 years earlier, noted his hearing swiftly returned under Dr. Palmer’s care. Dr. Palmer proceeded to evolve his clinical practice with his new methods of repositioning spinal segments that were out of alignment, and experienced positive clinical results in patients with a wide variety of health concerns. His practice grew and the profession of Chiropractic was launched.The theory and clinical basis of Chiropractic was concisely described as “Founded on Tone” by Dr. Palmer in a book he authored in 1910, The Science, Art and Philosophy of Chiropractic. The growing recognition of relationships between the specific chiropractic adjustment, and the body’s ability to communicate and coordinate its functions for optimizing health, brought new understanding of Chiropractic’s efficacy as a healing art and science. Over subsequent years the science, art and philosophy of this unique and special approach to health care was further described and detailed, with educational institutions established for students to complete an extensive course of study to become Doctors of Chiropractic. Key aspects of the chiropractic approach to health and healing were outlined in a landmark text listing 33 Principles of Chiropractic in 1927, with additional insights and data to follow in an expanding compendium of reference texts and research reports ever since. Over years of research, clinical practice and education, Chiropractic has grown into a widely recognized, distinctive health care profession with an expanding collection of research references, documentation of efficacy and cost-effectiveness, and growing numbers of enthusiastic and grateful patients around the globe.
As an emergent new health science and practice now 120 years old, Chiropractic is predicated on the recognition that the human body is a self-healing, self-regulating organism. And, most constructively, Chiropractic understands how the body, rather than requiring interventions that interrupt or intrude in the healing process, instead needs no interference with its innate capacities for self-coordination, organized communication, and repair -- which is now a concept so accepted and credible that widely-recognized authorities like Drs. Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra base the core premise of their best-selling books and recordings on this healing model.
The pioneering efforts and key principles of Dr. Palmer that, in his time, were deemed an affront to the orthodox medical industry of the era, set the course for a health revolution in the United States and around the world. From its modest and, unfortunately, often misunderstood and misconstrued beginnings, Chiropractic continues to grow in popularity and acceptance, and is now coming into its own as the largest drugless healthcare profession. It was because of the authenticity and soundness of these principles that Chiropractic has not only survived initial harsh criticism and onslaught by its detractors, but has flourished, and now is increasingly understood and embraced by a wide audience of people in search of health and optimizing their potential in life.
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