How Are We Different?
The Years of Progress
The Key to Effective Chiropractic Care
The PROBLEM
Adjusting Techniques
The first Chiropractic success was curing...deafness!
Harvey Lillard, janitor of the Ryan Building on Brady Street, Davenport, Iowa was not a happy man. 17 years before, while working in a cramped, stooped position, he had felt something give way in his spine. The immediate result was not only pain...he found he had lost his hearing.
He mentioned his problem to Daniel David Palmer, who had an office in the Ryan Building and was a keen student of anatomy and physiology. Daniel Palmer had a theory. He surmised that the spine was the highway along which ran the central nervous system. If that highway should become in need of repair and in any way restrict the constant traffic of brain impulses and orders carried by the central nervous system, other symptoms seemingly unconnected to the spinal column could result.
He examined Harvey Lillard and found that one of his vertebrae was misaligned. On September 18th 1895, he gave Harvey Lillard the first ever Chiropractic adjustment. Harvey's hearing returned...and Chiropractic was born.
topThe Years of Progress
In spite of opposition, the march of Chiropractic went on unchecked. Palmer's mantle was taken on by his son, B J Palmer, who refined the techniques and took over the school. He also introduced into Chiropractic the new tool of X-Rays, enabling more accurate diagnoses of spinal misalignments.
In America, where Chiropractic was born and first flourished, milestone followed milestone.
- 1913: Kansas was the first state to licence Chiropractors.
- 1941: The first standards were set up to accredit Chiropractic schools in the USA.
- 1944: The GI Bill of Rights made grants available for returning veterans to study Chiropractic
- 1972: The US Congress voted to make Chiropractic available under Medicare
- 2002: The US Government voted to make Chiropractic Care available to armed forces and veterans
Today in America there are over 65,000 practicing Chiropractors treating 20-25 million patients. One in 10 Americans sees a Chiropractor at least once a year. Chiropractic has come a long way from that day in 1895 when Harvey Lillard complained to Daniel Palmer about his deafness.
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The Key to Effective Chiropractic Care is the Adjustment.
Traditional Adjustments
The goal of the traditional chiropractic adjustment is to correct the spinal subluxations detected during the examination. Traditional chiropractic uses various techniques to apply pressure to the bone (s) and "unlock" it from its improper position. They feel the bone will then be free to align itself correctly. The role of the chiropractor is to free up the vertebrae. Then, the body can do its job and put them back in the correct position.
top The PROBLEM
You see, when chiropractic was developed, there were no x-rays, MRI, CT Scans. A patient was diagnosed just like the story above. And the adjustment was a crude twisting of the spine with no objective measurement of it's effectiveness. Even today most chiropractors do not utilize X-rays to identify spinal misalignments. In addition, most doctors adjust solely by hand with no means to objectively measure whether the adjustment was effective. With the advent of X-ray, Cineradiography (motion x-ray), and the FRAS, the doctor can diagnose the problem, adjust it more precisely, and return the patient to better health with confidence.
"You don't still drive around in a 1908 Model T Ford do you? Well then why would you want a doctor to use 1908 techniques to correct your spine?".
topAdjusting Techniques
If you ask 100 patients to describe their adjustments, you may get 100 different answers! That's because there are many adjusting techniques for the chiropractor to choose from.
Some doctors have their patients sit up for certain adjustments. Others tell them to lie down. Some use elaborate tables with moveable head or foot rests while others use stationary tables. A chiropractor may use a certain technique on one visit and a totally different one the next.
Chiropractic colleges teach their students many adjusting techniques. They realize each doctor and patient is different. In fact, each subluxation is different and may require a separate approach. Even the size, weight, and muscle structure of the doctor and patient must be taken into consideration when choosing a technique. Chiropractors select the technique which will most effectively correct subluxations with a minimum of force. The "art" of adjusting requires skill and training rather than brute strength. That's why even slightly built doctors can perform excellent adjustments on all patients regardless of their size.
