Chiropractic as a specific, distinctive form of health care dates back to 1895. It was discovered by Daniel David Palmer in Davenport, Iowa. However, some of the earliest "healers" in the world understood the relationship between health and the spine. Hippocrates stated: "Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases."

Herodotus, a friend of Hippocrates, gained his fame for curing diseases by correcting spinal abnormalities through therapeutic exercise. If the patient was too weak to exercise, he would manipulate the patient’s spine.

The adjustment of the spine still wasn’t totally understood until Palmer discovered the specific chiropractic adjustment in Iowa.

On September 18, 1895, Palmer was working late in his office when a janitor, Harvey Lillard, began working nearby. A noisy fire engine passed by outside the window and Palmer was surprised to see that Lillard didn’t react at all. He approached the man and tried to strike up a conversation. He soon realized Lillard was deaf. 

Patiently, Palmer managed to communicate with the man and learned he had normal hearing for most of his life. However, he had been bent over in a cramped, stooping position, and felt something "pop" in his back. When he stood up, he realized he couldn’t hear. Palmer concluded the two events had to be connected.

Palmer felt the man’s spine and noticed one vertebrae wasn’t in its normal position. He later stated in his notes, "I reasoned that if that vertebrae 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."

After this adjustment, other patients came to Palmer with many ailments including flu, stomach complaints, epilepsy, and heart trouble. He found each of these conditions responded well to the adjustments, which he was calling "hand treatments." He later named what he was doing "chiropractic," from the Greek words "chiro," meaning "hand" and "practic," meaning practice.

Palmer renamed his clinic the Palmer School & Infirmary of Chiropractic. In 1898, he accepted his first students.

The chiropractic profession truly began developing in the 20 years following the opening of the first school. In 1902, his son, Bartlett Joshua, graduated from the Palmer school. B.J., as he’s known, is credited with developing chiropractic into a defined health care system and getting chiropractic recognized as a licensed profession.

Chiropractors have gone through many trials and tribulations to help it get the recognition it has today. In the future, I’ll discuss some of the great works that have been performed by the true pioneers in the profession. TPW