Fort Mill chiropractor, chiropractor in Fort Mill, SC

History

The history of manipulation dates back as far as 17,500 BC. Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine" believed that a misaligned spine inhibited the health of an individual. Modern day chiropractic goes back over 100 years, when the first adjustment was given by Dr. Daniel Palmer on September 18, 1895.

Dr. Palmer, born in Canada in 1845, was very much interested in this healing art, having first practiced magnetic healing. This form of healing used the magnetism in the body. In 1886, Dr. Palmer opened his first office of magnetic healing in Burlington, Iowa. From there, he went on to open another office in Burlington, Iowa in 1887.

His interest was finding the cause and effect of sickness. He studied to discover what causes sickness and what effects sickness has on the human body. The first chiropractic adjustment he gave in 1895 was performed on a man who had lost his hearing 17 years previously. He reported to Dr. Palmer that at the time of losing his hearing, he had strained his back and had heard a noise in his back when this happened. Suspecting that there could be a spinal misalignment, Dr. Palmer examined him and did find a vertebra out of line. Dr. Palmer adjusted the vertebra back into position and the man's hearing did improve. These results for this condition have since been replicated by manual medicine and osteopathic physicians.

This proved Dr. Palmer's theory that if the spine is aligned correctly, the nerve flow to all parts of the body will work correctly and, thus, the body will be healthy and free of disease. Dr. Palmer was excited to think that he may have discovered a cure for all sickness.

Criticism of this new healing technique came from many, especially the medical community, as it did not represent conventional allopathic medicine. For years, chiropractic was discredited, criticized and even labelled as quackery. Those closed to the concept of chiropractic were likely susceptible to propaganda perpetuated by the American Medical Association. In fact, in 1988, the A.M.A. was found guilty in U.S. District Court of attempting to "contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession in America". In 1992, the Supreme Court upheld the District Court decision. It wasn't until the early 1970s that insurance companies started to recognize chiropractic as legitimate health care and allowed claims to be paid for chiropractic care.

In 1897, Dr. Palmer opened his chiropractic school in Davenport, Iowa, calling it the Palmer Infirmary and Chiropractic Institute. The name was later changed in 1907 to Palmer School of Chiropractic. Enrollment at first was low, with only 24 students in 1906, but today there are over 20 schools with enrollment of over 10,000 students.