Additional Links:
Send questions or comments to Dr. Bryce Koelling, D.C.; Koelling Family Chiropractic, PC doc@drbryce.com
Chiropractic History
The Greek, Hippocrates (The Father of Medicine 460-370 B.C.) authored numerous writings on manipulative techniques and emphasized the role tof the spine in over-all health. He belileved that only nature could heal and it was the physician’s responsibility to remove any obstruction that would prevent the body from healing. Another famous Greek, Claudius Galen (130-200 A.D.) was given the title "Prince of Physicians" after he corrected a paralysis of the right hand of a prominent Roman by aligning his neck.
The skills of spinal manipulation were passed down through families and generations, and later in the nineteenth century many "bone setters" were quite popular in both Europe and the United States. Spinal manipulation was crude until the time of Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer. In 1895, in Davenport, Iowa, D.D. Palmer delivered his first spinal manipulation (click here for how it worked) which he called an adjustment. The adjustment was given to a janitor named Harvey Lillard who had been partially deaf for 17 years. "Harvey Lillard…could not hear the racket of a wagon on the street or the ticking of a watch. I made inquiry as to the cause of his deafness and was informed that when he was exerting himself in a cramped, stooping position, he felt something give way in his back and immediately became deaf. An examination showed a vertebra racked from its normal position. I reasoned that if the vertebra was replaced, the man’s hearing should be restored. With this object in view, a half hour’s talk persuaded Mr. Lillard to allow me to replace it. I racked it into position by using the spinous process as a lever, and soon the man could hear as before. Over the succeeding months and years, D.D. Palmer treated numerous patients with various ailments and spent many hours applying his knowledge of human anatomy and physiology to developing the art and science of his treatments. He coined the word chiropractic which is derived from the Greek words "cheir" and "praktikas" meaning "done by hand." Unlike the crude manipulative treatments of the past, chiropractic focused on being both scientific and specific. D.D. Palmer was known as the founder of chiropractic, but it is his son, Bartlett Joshua (B.J.) Palmer that was known as the developer of chiropractic.
BJ Palmer was both a prolific author and dynamic speaker who spoke to audiences all over the world concerning chiropractic. He was described as having a missionary zeal and being a brilliant salesman when it came to chiropractic. In its early years, the practice of chiropractic was met with significant hostility form the medical community as it was an unfamiliar approach to health care. Many early chiropractors were jailed for "practicing medicine with out a license." BJ did much to much to increase the acceptance of chiropractic. He fought for the establishment of a separate licensing and regulatory board for chiropractic allowing for it to be recognized not as a form of medical practice, but as a separate entity. He developed the science, art and philosophy of the profession when it was little more than a loosely knit structure. BJ advocated the use of Wilhelm Roentgen’s invention, the X-ray machine, which improved the science and accuracy of chiropractic. At the time BJ Palmer was the president of the Palmer school of chiropractic, a young student named Clarence Gonstead was in attendance. In 1923, Gonstead graduated and began practicing in the sleepy little Norwegian town of Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. Over the following years, Dr. Gonstead began to expand the principals of chiropractic. His background in mechanical engineering allowed him to develop a more thorough and specific approach. Over time Gonstead’s practice grew becoming the largest to date. It drew patients from all over the world. He cared for all ages at all hours of the night, seven days a week. Gonstead brought numerous developments to the practice of chiropractic including perfecting the full spine X-ray, redesigning adjusting tables, developing the heat detecting instrument (Nervoscope) and classifying a system which dealt with the full spine as an integrated neuromusculoskeletal complex. *references available. |
Additional Links:
Send questions or comments to Dr. Bryce Koelling, D.C.; Koelling Family Chiropractic, PC doc@drbryce.com
|