History of Chiropractic
| Daniel David Palmer was a self-educated (as were many people before the turn of the century) magnetic healer, with a large practice in Davenport, Iowa. In this  booming, raucous river boat town on the Mississippi, Palmer started magnetic healing in a conventional manner by using the energy from his hands to charge up a patient , sort of like a weak car battery would get a trickle charge and start (heal).But now, though Lillard, Palmer was on a new track – with a new way to look at the energetic problem of healing and health. Palmer began his study of the spine. Eventually, using the bony processes used for muscular attachments and movement, he levered the spinal bone back into position and freed the full nerve flow to the body.”Voila”, he accidentally discovered how to jump start healing in the body. Chiropractic was born.  What made this different from the gross manipulation used in the past was the understanding of the global implications of this method as a distinct healing art. Palmer was a genius, but had an abrasive personality ill suited to the promotion of chiropractic. His son B.J. Palmer (right) was the marketeer, educator, and inventor that carried the chiropractic torch for the next sixty years. B.J. built Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, which became the premier chiropractic college in the world at that time.Interestingly, B.J. was quite inventive, too. In fact, he coined the radio business term–“broadcasting.” Previously, broadcasting was an agricultural term meaning to throw out seeds (ideas). In 1924, B.J. had the first radio station west of the Mississippi, WOC (or, Wonders Of Chiropractic). In 1928 he purchased WHO (With Hands Only) in Des Moines. He wrote and spoke extensively around the country about radio salesmanship and the effective management of radio stations. He was a world traveler and writer, who spoke to folks all over the country, on his 50,000 watt clear channel stations, about his travels and chiropractic. He was a also a pioneer in television after the war, building a broadcasting empire to insure the future success of chiropractic.  Chiropractic and its leaders changed with the times towards mainstream acceptance and worldwide use. The principles of this distinct healing method are still the same as they were 100 years ago. Essentially, the body is a self healing organism. The structure of anything determines how it will function. The nervous system controls and coordinates every organ and tissue of the body. There is a relationship between the spine and the health of the nervous system. Find the blockage and eliminate it and the body will move back toward health. |