The word ‘Chiropractic’ comes from the Greek words cheir meaning ‘hand’ and praktos meaning ‘done’ i.e. Done by Hand so named by the inventor or rather developer of Chiropractic: Daniel David Palmer or ‘DD’ as he is affectionately known amongst chiropractors.

A prolific reader of all things scientific, DD realised that although various forms of manipulation had been used for hundreds if not thousands of years, no-one had developed a philosophical or scientific rationale to explain their effects. DD Palmer’s major contribution to the health field was therefore the codification of the philosophy, art and science of chiropractic, wrested from a background of systematic study in anatomy and physiology. The art of chiropractic began with the very first spinal adjustment and developed from it.

DD performed the initial chiropractic adjustment in September 1895 and later in The Chiropractor’s Adjustment he wrote the following account of that experience:
“Harvey Lillard, a janitor in the Ryan Block, where I had my office, had been so deaf for 17 years that he could not hear the racket of a wagon on the street or the ticking of a watch. I made enquiry 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 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 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.

There was nothing “accidental” about this, as it was accomplished with an object in view, and the result expected was obtained. There was nothing “crude” about this adjustment; it was specific, so much so that no chiropractor has equalled it.”

From that first adjustment, DD Palmer continued to develop chiropractic and in 1897 established the Palmer School of Cure, now known as the Palmer College of Chiropractic, in Davenport, Iowa where it remains to this day.

Since Palmer College opened, chiropractic has developed rapidly and there are now over 35 schools and colleges around the world and on every continent.

Taken from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic