September is birthday month! No, not yours or mine; we’re celebrating the birth of a profession, chiropractic. The story of chiropractic’s birth is actually a colorful event. This important discovery took place in Davenport, Iowa, on September 18, 1895 when Harvey Lillard, an African-American entrepreneur had a rare, special encounter with Dr. D.D. Palmer.
It seems that Harvey ran a janitorial enterprise which provided service to the building where Palmer operated his infirmary.
Harvey Lillard, received first adjustment
One evening when Dr. Palmer was working late in his office Harvey entered to sweep the floors and became engaged in a very loud conversation with Palmer. It was very loud because Harvey was deaf and could only understand when Palmer shouted at the top of his lungs.
Dr. Palmer asked him how long he had been deaf and Mr. Lillard answered, “
Over 17 years.” Palmer then asked Harvey why he was deaf and Mr. Lillard smiled answering, “
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”. Palmer asked again, “
Do you know what brought it on, Harvey?” Mr. Lillard said, “
I don’t really know why I lost my hearing, but I know 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 sound in my neck. It was immediately like someone put heavy mufflers over my ears and it kept on getting worse after that.” Palmer asked, “ and Harvey agreed. When Palmer examined the neck he noticed 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 it 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 reasoned that if the tender lump came with the deafness, then perhaps reversing the bump could help with the problem and he asked, “
Will you let me try to help you?” Harvey agreed and together they performed the first chiropractic adjustment. Dr. Palmer had Harvey lie face down on a bench and contacted the bump over the twisted vertebra with his hand, introduced a light quick movement. The vertebra shifted its position and Harvey noticed an immediate improvement. According to Mr. Lillard’ s letter documenting what happened, after having 3 adjustments over a couple of week’s period of time from Dr. Palmer he had his hearing completely restored.
With today’s scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology we can understand how a chiropractic adjustment could restore normal function to Harvey’s nerve system resulting in such a miraculous outcome. This is why it we say, “
Chiropractic, it’s not about your back, it’s not about your pain, it’s about your life.”
