Have You HEARD?
D. D. Palmer Harvey Lillard
Have you heard this story!? It’s the story of chiropractic’s 123rd birthday! How does a profession, nay, a healing technique have a birthday? Allow me to explain.
If you were in Davenport, Iowa on September 18th, 1895, you may have run into a man by the name of Daniel David Palmer. This brilliant man was a beekeeper in his free time, and a school teacher by profession, but his true passion and success was due to his study of healing arts. Palmer established and managed an local infirmary with a focus in osteopathy and magnetic healing. During his studies, Palmer heavily researched the Central Nervous System, and hypothesized that “if a single organ was sick, it must not be receiving it’s normal nerve supply.” This theory led to the idea that the nerve supply was most likely being cut-off by a dislocated vertebra, and therefore adjusting the vertebra could restore spinal alignment, and thus restore nerve supply.
It was during this time of crucial study that Palmer had an encounter with a man named Harvey Lillard. Lillard was a deaf janitor in the office where Palmer worked, and Lillard shared his story with Palmer, explaining that he had “moved the wrong way, heard a ‘pop’ in his back, and then lost his hearing”. After a medical evaluation, Lillard agreed to allow Palmer to attempt a manual maneuver to realign his spine. Following the adjustment, Lillard’s hearing was completely restored. In that moment, “both the science (knowledge) and the art (adjusting) of Chiropractic were formed.” – D. D. Palmer
Now that Palmer’s conjectures had been realized, it was time to give a name to this new method of treatment. Palmer decided to use a combination of the words cheiros and praktikos (meaning “done by hand”) creating the term chiropractic. He also needed a name for the diagnosis, and decided to combine the words sub and luxate (meaning a slight dislocation, or to lack light) creating the term subluxation. In 1896, Palmer added a school to his infirmary, to which he began to teach others of his method. In 1897, this school largely grew, and became known as the Palmer College of Chiropractic – which is where Dr. Pennella earned her doctorate from in 2000!
Join us here at SFC on September 18th to wish Chiropractic a big “Happy Birthday”! And remember to come in to have you and your family checked for subluxations on a regular basis to ensure that your body is operating at its highest potential.
P.S.
Want to know what happened to Harvey Lillard? Check out the link below!