How Discovery of Remedial Spinal Adjustment in America Attested The Miracle of A Healing Art Discovered Millennia Earlier in China

On Sept. 18, 1895, Palmer, D. D (1845 - 1913), a Canadian American magnetic healer, performed his first spinal vertebra adjustment on a patient as himself claimed, marking the beginning of chiropractic (Beck BL, 1991).

According to Palmer (1910), he had restored the hearing of a deaf janitor H. Lillard working in the building where Palmer had his office. He examined Lillard's spine and manipulated a vertebra joint. Amazingly, Lillard's hearing was restored. Today, this vertebra manipulation of the spine is known as a chiropractic adjustment.

A Manual Twist or A Slap with A Heavy Item

Palmer claimed that this first spinal adjustment was not a chance affair but a calculated intervention. “There was nothing accidental about this, as it was accomplished with an object in view, and the expected result was obtained,” he wrote (Palmer, D.D., 1910).

But Palmer's story is disputed by the patient's daughter V. L. Simons (Westbrooks, B, 1982; Jarvis, William T, 2001). According to Simsons' story, when reading a book in his office, Palmer overheard Lillard telling a joke just outside, and joined the group. Upon hearing the punchline, Palmer heartily slapped Lillard on the back with the book in his hand. A few days later Lillard said that his hearing had improved since the incident, inspiring Palmer to pursue vertebral treatment as a means to cure disease.

Giving Palmer the benefit of the doubt, it is perhaps safer to refer to his account as “a truthful hyperbole”. Whatever its origins, what Palmer discovered was that a physical stimulation applied to the spine, either a manipulation by hand or a slap by a heavy item may induce a healing effect.

Discovery of The Remedy Effect of Spinal Stimulation

Palmer soon claimed further that spinal adjustments could relieve pain and other symptoms, and began to treat a variety of ailments, including stomach complains, heart issues, headaches, sciatica, epilepsy and more. Eventually he claimed that 95% of all disease is due to vertebral “subluxations” of the spine and he could correct such problems by his technique in which the vertebra joints are adjusted with a high velocity thrust, often accompanied by popping sounds.

In Palmer's view, the term vertebral “subluxation” referred to the static misalignment of a single vertebra (Palmer D.D.,1910). He claimed to have discovered the use of spinous and transverse processes of the spine as levers and to be the first to use direct contact with a vertebra that was "out."

Spinal Stimulation Performed in Ancient China

Although Palmer's claim of “vertebral subluxation” cannot be precisely defined because it is an intellectual construct used by chiropractors to explain the success of the spinal adjustment, Palmer's “discovery” of the remedy effect related to spinal stimulation echoes amazingly the magic healing power of the physical spinal stimulation discovered 2000 years earlier in China.

The only difference between the two healing modalities is that Palmer's stimulation comes from twisting the spine with his hands, while China's from pricking the spine (called Du Mai or Jia-ji spots) with a needle.

Healing Effect of Physical Stimulation of Entire Body

More importantly, the ancient Chinese physicians discovered that the physical stimulation by no means needs to be limited to the vertebra joints where “subluxations” is located as “discovered” by Palmer, but can be applied to any joint and even any non-joint spot on the entire body to induce the same or similar effect as does Palmer's vertebra-only stimulation (Huandi Neijing: Suwen 58 奇穴论, Suwen 63 缪刺论, Lingshu 7 官针, Lingshu 13 经筋) . The Neijing says: For any chronic joint / soft tissue ailment (mostly osteoarthritis or rheumatoid Arthritis), needling / bleeding could be performed anywhere on the body, determined by palpation (凡痹往来行无常处者，在分肉间痛而刺之...视其皮部有血络者尽取之) (SW 63).

A True Healing Art Works Everywhere

A true healing art or a jewel of wisdom of our human beings should work or apply universally, no matter in which side of the Pacific Ocean, today or in the past.

References

Beck BL. Magnetic healing, spiritualism chiropractic: Palmer’s union of methodologies. Chiropractic History 11(2):11-16, 1991.

Faye, LJ, Wiles, MR, Principles and Practice of Chiropractic. 2nd ed …, 1992

Huangdi Neijing: SW 58 (气穴论), SW 63 (缪刺论) Lingshu 13 (经筋) Suwen 56 (皮部论), BC 100

Jarvis, William T. "NCAHF Fact Sheet on Chiropractic (2001)". 2001.

Kaptchuk, Ted et al, ChiropracticOrigins, Controversies, and Contributions, Arch Intern Med. 1998;158(20):2215-2224.

Palmer D.D., The Science, Art and Philosophy of Chiropractic. 1910.

Westbrooks, B, The troubled legacy of Harvey Lillard: the black experience in chiropractic Chiropr Hist. 1982;2(1):47-53.