Going “Back” In Time

The History of Chiropractic

In the United States, there are more than 70,000 licensed chiropractors, and an estimated 35 million people visit them annually. You typically don’t have to travel very far to find one. It seems that in bigger cities, you can find them in pretty much every strip mall. It has not always been this way, though.

Manual healing methods have existed since ancient times, but chiropractic has only been around since the late 19th century. The inception of chiropractic took place in Davenport, Iowa, on September 18th, 1895. D. D. Palmer performed the first adjustment on a deaf man named Harvey Lillard, who worked as a janitor in the building where Palmer had his office. Following that first adjustment, which was performed on his neck, Harvey regained his hearing.

After that moment, the chiropractic profession has had to fight for its professional and legal status. Pushback came from conventional medicine, arguing that chiropractors were practicing medicine without a license. In the early 20th century, hundreds of chiropractors across the country were sent to jail for this. From the beginning, the profession knew self-regulation would be the key to its success. The first state to license chiropractors was Kansas in 1913. The last was Louisiana in 1974.

The American College of Physicians updated its guidelines for acute and chronic low back pain in recent years, stating that noninvasive and non-drug intervention should be used first. The chiropractic profession has also made big strides with the U.S. military. It is available for active military worldwide at over 60 military bases and for veterans at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system at over 70 facilities.

Chiropractic has continued to prove its value. As we continue to grow, our opposition grows as well. We will continue to fight for our profession by serving the people who come through our doors, educating them about subluxation and its effects on the human body, and growing the body of research backing the benefits of Chiropractic Care.

Sources used:

Kaptchuk TJ, Eisenberg DM. Chiropractic: Origins, Controversies, and Contributions. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158(20):2215–2224. doi:10.1001/archinte.158.20.2215

Origins and History of Chiropractic. www.acatoday.org. https://www.acatoday.org/about/history-of-chiropractic/