1st chiropractic adjustment and osteopathy and medicine

Posted by Jason Blackketter on Jul 29th, 2010 | 6 comments home title

Great discussion on the Atlas of Life with Brandon, Robert, Steve, and Zach! Although Dr. Agocs has already taken issue with the 1st comment regarding DD Palmer and AT Still’s relationship, I think a few points of further clarification may help shed light on some long-held misunderstandings. Dr. Ward added some of his precise analysis and commentary on the history of chiropractic…in addition to what I’ve already written here: the-1st-chiropractic-adjustment

1. Neither A.T.Still nor D.D. Palmer can lay claim to being “the first to practice manipulative medicine” for several reasons.
Dr. Still (father of Osteopathy) claimed he wasn’t practicing medicine, but was trying to restore the natural healing power of the body by getting the joints moving and the fluid/lymph circulation flowing again.
Dr. Palmer (father of Chiropractic) claimed he wasn’t practicing medicine either, but restoring proper tone and function to the nerve system and spine so the body would heal naturally.
They both understood the vitalistic nature of life and health from within not from medicine. They also both knew that spinal function was key to overall health.

2. While Osteopathy and Chiropractic may share some similarities in their origins, philosophy, controversies, and time period; these disciplines are actually different enough to be legally and practically distinct from one another AND they were both separate and distinct from medicine.
At their core the early D.O.s and D.C.s were both more conservative and less invasive than medicine. Another comparison is their vitalistic view of life…an essential component that sets Palmer and Still outside of the mechanistic materialism of medicine.

3. Manual therapy, including bone-setting, traction, massage, manipulation of all the joints in the body, etc. has been around for literally thousands of years. Go back and research the ancient histories of the Chinese, Mayans, Egyptians, and Greeks (esp. Hippocrates). These cultures were often quite advanced and very holistic/vitalistic in many of their healing arts, recognizing the benefits of manual work. It is interesting to see much of the wisdom from the past respected the body’s recuperative powers ages before we founded the modern health professions.

4. The technique or “art of chiropractic” was influenced by many sources, but our intention and goals are quite different from other professions.

Better fluid circulation from manipulation of bones/joints (D.O.)
VS.
Improved nerve flow and spinal function from adjustment (D.C.)

Granted, these approaches often look very similar to a casual observer, but the intent AND the reasoning behind it AND the specificity involved varies on many points…especially within the field of chiropractic as Brandon pointed out some of the many differences between a general palpation-derived long-lever manipulation VS. a specific neurologically-informed vector-based adjustment crafted from precise x-ray analysis.

5. Regardless of who taught D.D. and B.J. Palmer some of the early moves used by the first Chiropractors (A.T. Still, bone-setters, or ancient illustrations), these older moves were abandoned after a few short years of research and replaced with safer, more effective, fine-tuned methods. The Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, IA was founded in 1897 by the Palmers for the purpose of teaching–researching–developing the Philosophy, Science, and Art of their NEW principle of Chiropractic. That college is also known as The Fountainhead of Chiropractic since it is the first, oldest, and most prestigious school in the profession.

6. The real beauty and genius of chiropractic is NOT found in its illustrious history, but in the core hypothesis and ground-breaking vitalistic foundation. **Our founding principle and guiding philosophy was/is wholly unique. The WHY we do what we do…plus HOW it is different.
That is why we like to say the “1st chiropractic adjustment” was done by D.D. Palmer in 1895 in Davenport, IA. This fact does not diminish A.T. Sill’s wonderful contributions to manipulative medicine. Neither does it infringe on any other profession’s therapeutic manual treatments.
**As a side note, I’m sure A.T. Still would role over in his grave with despair seeing how far Osteopathy has moved from his original vision.

7. ChiropracTIC and the Palmers gave us a progression forward over eons of time, trial & error, and many new experimental ideas. Eventually they added a NEW improved way of improving health and life–vitalism.

We do not practice any form of medicine (alternative, preventative, manual, therapeutic, or otherwise).
What we do is NOT an alternative for anything.
Chiropractic is not in competition with any profession.
It is a principle of LIFE.
The goal is living up to your potential by fully expressing the BEST inside you.

The Palmer theory, and that of my private practice, is simply this:
– You are more than just a body. You have an inborn controlling life energy or innate intelligence that makes you alive.
– This innate life source uses your central nervous system to direct/coordinate/organize all cellular function in the body. You must be fully connected to this life energy to benefit from its power.
– Because of the intimate relationship between the spinal column and nerve system, the spine must be aligned and balanced properly for the spinal cord and brain stem to have ideal tension (tone) and function.
– After restoring spinal function with adjustment (at the right time and in the right place and with the right technique) we see a renewed neurological connection between brain and body. We fully connect you to your innate life source…
The results are predictable: health, harmony, ease, and the ability to live fully well is the natural result.

We help you be your best.
It is as simple as that.