How It All Began

When most people think of chiropractic care, the first thing that comes to mind is pain relief. And while chiropractors are certainly experts in relieving pain, there’s much more to this form of healthcare than that! In fact, chiropractic care has a fascinating history that stretches back over 100 years. Chiropractor in Greenville, SC will take a look at the origins of chiropractic care and how it has evolved into the popular treatment method that it is today.

The first thing to understand about chiropractic care is that it is based on the principle of spinal manipulation. This is a technique that has been used for centuries to treat various ailments, but it was only in the late 19th century that it began to be used specifically for treating back pain. In 1895, a man named Daniel David Palmer performed the first ever chiropractic adjustment on a man named Harvey Lillard. Lillard had been suffering from deafness for 17 years, and Palmer believed that he could cure him by manipulating his spine. Amazingly, after just one treatment, Lillard’s deafness was cured!

While this may have seemed like a miracle at the time, Palmer’s methods were actually based on sound scientific principles. He believed (and subsequent research has borne out) that the spine is connected to the nervous system, and that misalignments in the spine can cause problems with nerve function. By correcting these misalignments, chiropractors are able to relieve pain and improve overall health.

Today, chiropractic care is used to treat a wide variety of conditions, not just back pain. Chiropractors use spinal manipulation and other techniques to treat everything from migraines and headaches to carpal tunnel syndrome and TMJ. And while some people still view chiropractic care as a “alternative” form of medicine, it is actually now widely accepted by the medical community as a safe and effective treatment method.