Chiropractic Facts
- Chiropractic is the largest drug-free healing profession in the world.
- Over 15 million Americans choose chiropractic for safe, natural and effective pain relief.
- Chiropractic care effectively helps individuals with a large range of health problems not only get out of pain, but more importantly, it helps people achieve optimal health by bringing the body back into balance.
- Chiropractic is valuable for those interested in fitness, athletics, and maintaining a high level of performance in their lives.
- Chiropractic is a health care discipline, which emphasizes the inherent recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs and surgery.
- The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health.
- Chiropractors have broad diagnostic skills and are also trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, as well as to provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle counseling.
Top Athletes & Performers use Chiropractic
Tiger Woods – “I’ve been going to a Chiropractor for as long as I can remember. It is as important to my training as the practice of my swing.”
Jerry Rice, 49ers All-Pro Wide Receiver – “Most injuries require chiropractic care. It works better for me than anything else.”
Evander Holyfield, Heavyweight Champ – “I do believe in chiropractic. I found that going to my chiropractor three times a week helps my performance. The majority of boxers go to get that edge.”
Johnny Damon, Detroit Tigers Centerfielder, MLB All-star – “Without chiropractic, I wouldn’t be able to play consistently throughout the season.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger – “Chiropractors are miracle workers”
Mel Gibson – “Chiropractic is about health and fitness. Chiropractic is about natural, preventive health care. What you are doing, and I have experienced this for the last 30 years myself on my own body, means that whenever I have a problem—or even if I don’t have a problem—and I go to a chiropractor, my problems are gone for a long time.”
George Kennedy – “A chiropractor accomplished in three weeks what the army doctors haven’t been able to do in two years.”
Peter Fonda – “Regular chiropractic adjustments go hand in hand with good health.”
Liza Minnelli – “I rely on regular chiropractic care to keep in shape for my strenuous type of acting and singing.”
Jack LaLanne – “The spine is the lifeline. A lot of people should go to a chiropractor but they don’t know it.”
Origins & History of Chiropractic Care
The word ‘Chiropractic’ comes from the Greek words cheir (meaning ‘hand’) and praktos (meaning ‘done’), i.e. Done by Hand. The name was chosen by the developer of chiropractic, Daniel David Palmer.
A prolific reader of all things scientific, DD Palmer realized 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. Palmer’s major contribution to the health field was therefore the codification of the philosophy, art and science of chiropractic, which was based on his extensive study of anatomy and physiology.
Palmer performed the initial chiropractic adjustment in September 1895. Palmer examined a janitor who had become deaf 17 years prior after he felt something “give” in his back. Palmer examined the area and gave a crude “adjustment” to what was felt to be a misplaced vertebra in the upper back. The janitor then observed that his hearing improved.
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 today. Following the first adjustment, many people became interested in Palmer’s new science and healing art. Among his early students were Palmer’s son, Bartlett Joshua (BJ), as well as members of the older healing arts of medicine and osteopathy.
The first state law licensing chiropractors was passed in 1913, and by 1931, 39 states had given chiropractors legal recognition.
Today, there are more than 60,000 active chiropractic licenses in the United States. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands officially recognize chiropractic as a health care profession. Many other countries also recognize and regulate chiropractic, including Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Australia, Japan and Switzerland.