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Non-Invasive Care of the Nervous System The word "chiropractic" simply means "done by hand" although within the realm of chiropractic there are over 200 techniques and as many philosophies, some with more research to back them than others. Without going into too much depth, we feel the following is an excellent definition of Chiropractic: "Chiropractic employs neither drugs nor surgery. It is concerned with the entire environment of the body and is based on a properly functioning nervous system, which begins with the brain and courses through the spinal cord encased within the spinal column. No part of the body escapes the dominance of the nervous system. Spinal biomechanical dysfunction—improper function of the spine due to slight misalignments called subluxations—can cause a state of poor health in an area far removed from the spine and spinal cord itself and can reduce the ability of the body to adapt to an ever-changing environment. The slightest malfunction of the spine may alter the regular transmission of nerve impulses, preventing that portion of the body from responding with its full inherent capacity. A chiropractic spinal adjustment (the application of a precise force to the specific part of the spinal segment) corrects the vertebral subluxation, permitting normal nerve transmission, innate recuperative capability and effective health and adaptation of the person."		The Safety of Chiropractic There are plenty of rumors out there about chiropractic and it’s safety. We don’t pretend to be oblivious to them, but we do prefer to resort to peer-reviewed, scientific research for our information. Below is an interesting study conducted over a period of years that was recently published in one of the most respected peer reviewed journals in the world: Spine Journal: Safety of Chiropractic Manipulation of the Cervical Spine: A Prospective National Survey. Health Services Research Spine. 32(21):2375-2378, October 1, 2007. Thiel, Haymo W. DC, PhD ; Bolton, Jennifer E. PhD ; Docherty, Sharon PhD *; Portlock, Jane C. PhD Objective. To estimate the risk of serious and relatively minor adverse events following chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine by a sample of U.K. chiropractors. Results. Data were obtained from 28,807 treatment consultations and 50,276 cervical spine manipulations. There were no reports of serious adverse events. Equated to research statistics, this translates to an estimated risk of a serious adverse event of, at worse [almost equal to]1 per 10,000 treatment consultations immediately after cervical spine manipulation, [almost equal to]2 per 10,000 treatment consultations up to 7 days after treatment and [almost equal to]6 per 100,000 cervical spine manipulations.

D.D. Palmer

D.D. Palmer
Founder of Chiropractic

Function Optimally.
Central Nervous System

; H. Ron Frogley

Dr. H. Ron Frogley helped develop many chiropractic techniques for both diagnosis and adjusting. He taught at Palmer College of Chiropractic for over 40 years and held many executive faculty positions.

- How It All Began -

Chiropractic began in 1895 in Davenport, Iowa when D.D. Palmer, an anatomist and "magnetic healer" by trade, performed the first adjustment, very much as an experiment, on his janitor, Harvey Lillard who had lost his hearing 17 years earlier. Initially he thought he had discovered the cure for deafness although he quickly found that this was not the case. Because of his past experience with magnetic theories, he hypothesized that he had affected the nervous system in a such a way that it empowered the body's innate ability to heal itself.
Despite criticism for it's strange beginnings, chiropractic research has come a long, long way over the last century. Palmer College of Chiropractic now houses the larges chiropractic research facility in the world, recieving millions of dollars annually from the National Institute of Health(NIH) to validate and continue exploring the benefits of chiropractic adjustments on anything from tennis elbow to psychological disorders. Research articles are published regularly in most of the world's leading medical journals today.