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When looking for a Chiropractor, see our List of Chiropractors in Westchester County, NY. Do you need Chiropractic services or a Chiropractor in Westchester County? For Chiropractic services select from our comprehensive list of Chiropractors in Armonk, Ardsley, Scarsdale, White Plains, Yorktown, Yonkers or any location in Westchester, NY.
Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic is a unique form of health care that stresses an overall body wellness. The focus of chiropractic is to locate and help correct spinal problems that are disrupting the controlling nerve impulses between the brain and every cell, tissue, organ, and system of your body. Spinal bones, which have lost their normal motion, are restored by a series of carefully directed spinal adjustments. Because the adjustments help restore the function of the nervous system, they can have a profound effect to your overall health without drugs or surgery.
History of Chiropractic
The actual profession of chiropractic dates back to 1895. However, some of the earliest healers in the history of the world understood the relationship between health and the condition of the spine. Hippocrates advised: "Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases."
Herodotus, a contemporary of Hippocrates, gained fame curing diseases by correcting spinal abnormalities through therapeutic exercises. If the patient were too weak to exercise, Herodotus would manipulate the patient's spine. The philosopher Aristotle was critical of Herodotus' tonic-free approach because, "he made old men young and thus prolonged their lives too greatly."
Daniel David Palmer (DD) developed the philosophy of chiropractic, which forms the foundation for the profession. DD was born in Ontario, Canada. In 1845, when DD was 20 years old, he moved to Iowa in the USA. A prolific reader of all things scientific, DD realized that although various forms of manipulation had been used for hundreds of years, no one had developed a philosophical or scientific rationale to explain their effects. DD Palmer's major contribution to the health field was therefore the codification of the philosophy, art and science of chiropractic, wrested from a background of systematic study in anatomy and physiology. The art of chiropractic began with the very first spinal adjustment and developed from it.
DD Palmer performed the initial chiropractic adjustment in September 1895 and later in The Chiropractor's Adjustment he wrote the following account of that experience:
"Harvey Lillard, a janitor in the Ryan Block, where I had my office, had been so deaf for 17 years that he could not hear the racket of a wagon on the street or the ticking of a watch. I made enquiry as to the cause of his deafness and was informed that when he was exerting himself in a cramped, stooping position, he felt something give in his back and immediately became deaf. An examination showed a vertebra racked from its normal position. I reasoned that if the vertebra was replaced, the man's hearing should be restored. With this object in view, a half hour talk persuaded Mr. Lillard to allow me to replace it. I racked it into position by using the spinous process as a lever and soon the man could hear as before."
There was nothing "accidental" about this, as it was accomplished with an object in view, and the result expected was obtained. There was nothing "crude" about this adjustment; it was specific, so much so that some people believe that no chiropractor has equaled it. 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.
Over the succeeding months, other patients came to Palmer with every conceivable problem, including flu, sciatica, migraine headaches, stomach complaints, epilepsy and heart trouble. D.D. Palmer found each of these conditions responded well to the adjustments which he was calling "hand treatments." Later he coined the term chiropractic, from the Greek words, Chiro, meaning (hand) and practic, meaning (practice or operation). He renamed his clinic the Palmer School & Infirmary of Chiropractic. In 1898, he accepted his first students.
Although he never used drugs, under Palmer's care fevers broke, pain ended, infections healed, vision improved, stomach disorders disappeared, and of course, hearing returned. Often surprised at the effectiveness of his adjustments, D.D. Palmer returned to his studies of anatomy and physiology to learn more about the vital connection between the spine and one's health. He realized spinal adjustments to correct vertebral misalignments, or subluxations, were eliminating the nerve interference causing the patients' complaints. At first, even though it proved to be a successful way of healing the body, chiropractic adjustments were not readily accepted.
From 1906 to 1913, D.D. Palmer published two books, "The Science of Chiropractic" and "The Chiropractors Adjuster". He died in Los Angeles at the age of 68.
D.D. Palmer had a son, Bartlett Joshua, who was as enthusiastic about chiropractic as his father and who continued his father’s work. Bartlett is credited with developing chiropractic into a clearly defined and unique health care system. In 1902, B.J. graduated from the Palmer school started by his father. Soon after, B.J. Palmer and his wife and fellow graduate Mabel, were helping patients and taking on more and more responsibility for the school and the clinic. B.J. Palmer was instrumental in getting chiropractic recognized as a licensed profession.
Although the profession has advanced tremendously since the days of D.D. and B.J. Palmer, the basic tenets and understanding of chiropractic as a drug-free method of correcting vertebral subluxations in order to remove nerve interference still stand.
Chiropractors' Educational Requirements
A Chiropractor must receive a minimum of 6-7 years of college education. The basic science and clinical coursework includes anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, physical and laboratory diagnostics, radiology, physiology, pathology, nutrition, biomechanics, and spinal manipulation techniques. Chiropractic education is similar to medical education except the focus is on the diagnosis and treatment of muscular-skeletal and nervous system disorders rather than drugs or surgery. Licensed Chiropractors are doctors and use Dr. or D.C. with their name.
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