What Is Chiropractic?
Manipulation, as a healing technique, was practiced long before chiropractic.
Chinese artifacts, as early as 2700 BC, describe manipulation of the spine. In 1500
BC, the Greeks gave written instructions on how to manipulate the lumbar spine for
back care. Hippocrates used spinal manipulation to reposition vertebrae and cure a
variety of dysfunctions. Galen, a Greek physician, anatomist, and physiologist, born
over two hundred years after Hippocrates, also used manipulation and reported the
cure of a patient’s hand weakness and numbness through manipulation of the sev-
enth cervical vertebra. Hippocrates and Galen helped form the foundation of
Renaissance medicine, during which manipulative healers were known as “bone-
setters.” The “father of surgery,” Ambroise Pare, born about 1517, incorporated
manipulation into his treatment of patients. In the centuries that followed, manipu-
lative techniques were passed down from generation to generation, often within
families.
Chiropractic was founded in 1895 by Daniel David Palmer, a self-educated
American healer. Palmer administered the first chiropractic adjustment to Harvey
Lillard, a janitor who had gone deaf 17 years earlier while stooping in a mine.
Palmer found what he called a misaligned vertebra, which he manipulated, allow-
ing Lillard to stand up straight, free of back pain, and with his hearing restored.
Within two years of this discovery, Palmer founded his Chiropractic School and Cure
while at the same time developing the underlying concepts. In 1906, a split in the
profession occurred that still exists today. Several faculty members, including John
Howard, left Palmer College because of significant differences with Palmer’s son, B. J.
Palmer. B. J. believed that spinal subluxationor misalignment of the spinal vertebrae,
was the cause of all disease whereas Howard believed that additional causes were
generally present. Howard opened his National School of Chiropractic around a
broad-based and scientific educational curriculum. To this day, those who follow
Palmer’s path are called “straight” chiropractors, while those who follow the Howard
model are called “mixer” chiropractors.
Chiropractors are licensed in all states of the United States as well as in many other
countries. The 16 American chiropractic colleges graduate more than 2,800 chiro-
practors each year. Colleges also exist in Canada, Australia, England, France, and
Japan. Chiropractic education requires at least 60 undergraduate credit hours,
including many in the basic sciences. Chiropractic college is a five-year program
including courses in anatomy, physiology, pathology, and diagnosis, as well as
spinal adjusting, nutrition, physical therapy, and rehabilitation. Educational stan-
dards in the United States are supervised by a government-recognized accrediting
agency, the Council of Chiropractic Education.132 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TOALTERNATIVE MEDICINE