September is an important birthday month, not just for people like my sister Roberta, who has a September birthday, but also for the chiropractic profession and the people it serves.
Chiropractic, a relatively new profession, was born on September 18, 1895 when a Davenport, Iowa doctor discovered that a deaf man had a neck bone out of position. It all came about when Dr. Palmer asked a man how long he had been deaf. “Over 17 years, Dr. D.D.” Harvey Lillard answered.”
Harvey Lillard, received first adjustment
It was a very loud conversation. Loud because Harvey could only make out what was being said when Palmer shouted at the top of his lungs.
Then the doctor asked a question that changed everything. He asked him why he was deaf. Harvey responded “It’s funny you should ask because I’ve been to all the doctors in Davenport and more of them over in Illinois, too. All of them tried to do different things in and around my ears to treat them. They all failed to help me, but none of them ever asked why I was deaf.” It was a great clue, shedding light on a question that everyone else failed to ask.
Harvey then told D.D. Palmer the story of how he became deaf. Mr. Lillard said “I don’t really know why I lost my hearing, but I know exactly when it happened.”
“What exactly did happen?” Dr. Palmer asked.
Harvey explained “One day I was bent over in a corner scrubbing a floor with my brush and I felt a popping sensation in my neck. Immediately it seemed like someone put heavy mufflers over my ears and it kept on getting worse after that.”
Palmer asked “May I look at your neck?” Harvey nodded in agreement. Palmer found an unusual bump at the top of the neck, just below Harvey’s head. He touched the lump and Harvey winced in pain. He then asked, “How long has that been hurting?”
Harvey answered “I never noticed the hurt before you touched it! I don’t think anyone has ever touched me there before.”
Dr. Palmer had been studying what was then known about the spinal cord and how it links the brain and body parts. He was very interested in how the nerve system is protected by the bones of the spinal column. In Harvey’s case, he reasoned that if the misaligned bone with the tender lump brought on the deafness, then perhaps reversing the bump could help with the problem.
He asked “Harvey, will you let me try to help you?” Mr. Lillard agreed, and together they performed the first chiropractic adjustment in history. Harvey was placed face-down on a bench, and Dr. Palmer placed his hand on the twisted vertebra. He then introduced a light, quick movement. The vertebra shifted its position and almost like magic, Harvey noticed an immediate improvement.
According to Mr. Lillard’ s letter documenting what happened, he received three adjustments during the next couple of weeks from Dr. Palmer, and his hearing was completely restored.
With today’s scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology we can understand how a precise chiropractic adjustment was able to restore normal function to Harvey’s nerve system resulting in such a miraculous outcome. That’s why we say, “Chiropractic, it’s not about your back, it’s not about your pain, it’s about your life.”