subject: History Of Chiropractic Tables And Chiropractic Cure [print this page] Todays chiropractic, however, marks its beginnings in the late 1800s when Daniel David Palmer, a self-educated teacher and healer, performed the first spinal manipulation on a patient. That patient was Harvey Lillard, a janitor who worked in Palmer's building. Lillard was nearly totally deaf, and told to Palmer that he lost his hearing many years ago when he was bending over and felt a "pop" in his upper back. Palmer, who was a magnet therapy practitioner (a common therapy of the time) was quite knowledgeable in anatomy and very interested in how the spine interacts with the rest of the body's systems. He felt strongly that the two events - the "popping" in Lillard's back and his deafness - were somehow related. He examined Lillard's spine and found that one of his vertebra was misaligned as compered to normal spine. After applying slight pressure, Palmer returned Lillard's vertebra to the correct position and an amazing event occurred - Lillard's hearing was restored! This procedure of treatment later came to be known as a chiropractic adjustment.
Palmer had discovered that spinal adjustments could correct misaligned vertebra, eliminate nerve interference and relieve patients' pain. These misaligned vertebrae have been termed as chiropractic subluxations. He began to use these "hand treatments or adjustments" to treat a variety of ailments including sciatica, migraine headaches, stomach complaints, epilepsy and heart trouble. In 1898, he started the Palmer School & Infirmary of Chiropractic and began teaching his chiropractic techniques to others.
The medical community did not immediately embrace Palmer's chiropractic theories and techniques. They refused to acknowledge his accomplishments and called him a "quack". At one point of time, Palmer was also indicted for practicing medicine without a license and spent time in jail for his offense.
Though Palmers techniques and treatment methods were recognized but he did not live that long to see his methods being rewarded. This method later became a popular branch of science and was also given a legal recognition. With the popularity of these methods growing it demanded more improved and better equipment for its working. And here was the phase of invention of sophisticated message tables which are now a days known as chiropractic tables. The adjusting table has gone through many transformations over the years. The first tables used simple construction and little to no decoration. Todays adjusting tables come in comfortable and durable materials, and they move up and down and back and forth at the touch of a button. These tables are specially designed to apply pressure for correction of misalignment; one can target a specific location or a joint. These days many types of tables are available like hydraulic tables, fixed tables, standard ones and portable chiropractic tables. Chiropractic tables are the only major equipment which a practitioner needs to perform his task. Chiropractics has helped a countless people live a better life with dignity and will do the same in future.
