For over a century Chiropractors have been introducing their patients to the best doctor on the planet… the one that lives INSIDE them. Here’s what we’ve accomplished so far.
- Chiropractic is the largest DRUGLESS, non-medical healing profession in the world
- Currently, Chiropractors practice in over 100 countries all over the globe
- There are approximately 65,000 Chiropractors in the USA alone, and another 13,000 worldwide
- Statistics show that 10-15% of the American population (30 to 40 million) have seen a Chiropractor
On September 18, 1895, in Davenport Iowa, the first chiropractic adjustment was given by Dr. DD Palmer to a janitor named Harvey Lillard. Harvey had lost most of his hearing 17 years earlier after hearing a popping sound in his neck while he was scrubbing with his brush.
Upon examining Harvey, Dr. Palmer determined that a bone was out of place in the janitor’s neck. After some discussion, “Dr. DD”, as most people called him, decided to move the bone back into place to see if that would help. This primitive first chiropractic adjustment resulted in Harvey getting his hearing back, and the profession of chiropractic was born.
Later, the term “subluxation” was given to spinal vertebrae that were misaligned and causing irritation or pressure on the spinal nerves. DD’s son, Dr. BJ Palmer, is credited with being the developer of chiropractic. Over the next six decades, “BJ”, researched and developed chiropractic into the profession it is today.
Dr. BJ Palmer was quite a charismatic man. An August 09, 2014, article on BJ appeared in the The Quad-City Times recanting how BJ was the main celebrity of Davenport for many years. “B.J. Palmer, one of Davenport’s fascinating figures, gathered chiropractors to his campus from over the world in early August of every year. Those were days when an innocent stranger on a street corner might get an unexpected spinal adjustment from a visiting chiropractor,” notes article author Bill Wundram. “BJ was colorful, often bombastic. He convened his fellow chiropractors in a circus tent so big that it could hold elephants and the man on the flying trapeze. He called the campus gathering lyceums.”
In expanding on the Lyceums of years past, Wundram wrote, “Lyceums had parades, with students carrying spines a half-block long. There also were celebrities. One year, he had Gypsy Rose Lee — a burlesque entertainer of the era famous for her striptease act — on the platform. She was refined and spoke eloquently on the importance of fitness. All the while, BJ took his turn to orate about his divine power to cure all known illnesses through chiropractic. With his trimmed beard and panatela cigar, he was a star. He loved every minute of it.”
Many events are planned in chiropractic throughout the world commemorating the discovery of subluxation and the first adjustment. In the state of Georgia, Governor Nathan Deal will be signing a proclamation onSeptember 23rd that declares September to be Subluxation Awareness Month.
For more detailed information please visit The Association of History of Chiropractic.
