Daniel David Palmer
Daniel David Palmer (1845–1913) was an American magnetic healer who founded chiropractic in 1895 and developed its early theory of spinal adjustment.
Chiropractic: A health practice centered on diagnosing and treating disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially through spinal manipulation. Palmer established this practice in 1895 and gave it an early theory of disease.
Vertebral subluxation: A chiropractic concept of spinal joint dysfunction believed by some practitioners to affect health through the nervous system. Palmer proposed spinal misalignments as causes of disease through interference with nerve function.
B. J. Palmer: Daniel David Palmer’s son, who expanded chiropractic education and promoted its distinctive doctrines. He took over the Palmer school and became the most influential promoter of his father’s system.
Chiropractic education: Professional training in chiropractic diagnosis, treatment, and clinical practice. Palmer’s school set an early model for training practitioners in his new system.
Harvey Lillard: An African American man whom Daniel David Palmer said he treated for deafness through spinal manipulation. Palmer’s account of treating Lillard in 1895 became chiropractic’s founding story.
Spinal manipulation: A manual technique applying controlled force to spinal joints to alter their movement or position. Palmer made spinal manipulation the central treatment of his system.
Andrew Taylor Still: An American physician who founded osteopathy in the late nineteenth century. Still’s earlier manual-healing system provides a close historical comparison to Palmer’s chiropractic.
Chiropractic controversy: Disputes over chiropractic’s evidence, scope of practice, safety, and relationship to medicine. Palmer’s claims about spinal misalignment and disease remain central to debates about chiropractic.
Palmer School of Chiropractic: A chiropractic college founded by Daniel David Palmer in Davenport, Iowa, in 1897. Palmer institutionalized his new practice by founding this school.
Innate intelligence: In early chiropractic theory, an inborn organizing force that coordinates bodily functions through the nervous system. Palmer used this idea to explain how spinal adjustments could restore health.