Oakdale chiropractor, chiropractor in Oakdale, MN

History of Chiropractic: The Birth of a New Healing Art

It was September of 1895, when a magnetic healer named Dr. D.D. Palmer examined a deaf janitor in Davenport, Iowa. Harvey Lillard, a deaf janitor who worked in the building in which D.D. Palmer practiced, described to Dr. Palmer that he lost his hearing 17 years previously while exerting himself. Mr. Lillard explained that he felt something give way in his back and immediately became deaf. Dr. Palmer examined Mr. Lillard and located a subluxated vertebra in his spine. Dr. Palmer then purposefully repositioned the vertebrae back into place and Mr. Lillard’s hearing was miraculously restored.

Shortly after the Harvey Lillard case, Dr. Palmer had a patient with heart trouble that also was resolved when he replaced (adjusted) a subluxated vertebrae. In this particular case, he examined the spine and located a subluxated vertebrae pressing on the nerves supplying messages to the heart. Dr. Palmer reasoned that if two diseases, so different as deafness and heart trouble, came from pressure on the nerves, then other diseases may be caused due to a similar case.

Thus, the science and art of Chiropractic was formed. The dawn of a new era of health care was born, a system to investigate the cause of all disease and treat the cause, not the sign or symptom. This system is based on a vitalistic approach that allows our bodies to heal naturally, without the use of toxic drugs or surgeries.

Wellness chiropractic has always been and always will be about restoring health and wellness to the body, not treating back and neck pain. Wellness chiropractic is a lifestyle that creates well-being, improves your quality of living, and improves your performance at every level.

Reference: The Science, Art, and Philosophy of Chiropractic, The Chiropractor’s Adjuster, 1910.