Harvey Lillard was an African American man who owned a janitorial service company in Davenport Iowa. On September 18th, 1895, while cleaning the offices of Dr. D.D Palmer, Lillard and Palmer started to have a conversation. They were discussing why Harvey had such a hard time hearing, and how long the problem had been present. Mr. Lillard explained that, 17 years earlier he had bent over in a stooped position and felt a “pop” in his neck, and that his hearing had quickly diminished from that day on.
Being a keen student of anatomy and physiology, Dr. Palmer asked Harvey’s permission to examine him. He discovered something in Lillard’s neck and asked if he could address it. Harvey consented, and Dr. Palmer gave a “gentle shove” to the peculiar area. Following this crude “adjustment”, Harvey’s hearing was restored, thus sparking the birth of the Chiropractic profession. There are many different accounts of this story, but what makes this story so interesting, is that the first Chiropractic adjustment was performed on an African American. Many people are unaware of this historic event, which started the birth of the leading alternative health care profession.
Chiropractic is a branch of the healing arts which is based upon the understanding that good health depends, in part, upon a normally functioning nervous system (especially the spine, and the nerves extending from the spine to all parts of the body). “Chiropractic” comes from the Greek word Chiropraktikos, meaning “effective treatment by hand.” Chiropractic stresses the idea that the cause of many disease processes begins with the body’s inability to adapt to its environment.
It looks to address these diseases not by the use of drugs and chemicals, but by locating and adjusting a musculoskeletal area of the body which is functioning improperly. The nervous system controls every part of the body and allows you to express true health.
If one or more of the bones of the spine is not working properly do to stress or trauma, it can reduce your body’s ability to respond and adapt, and chiropractors call this a Subluxation (or in laymen terms a pinched nerve). Overtime, if this remains uncorrected it can end up producing pain or other symptoms. This is just like a dental cavity, getting worse overtime without hurting, until there is a major problem.
Chiropractors use a standard procedure of examination to diagnose a patient’s condition and arrive at a course of treatment. Doctors of chiropractic use the same time-honored methods of consultation, case history, physical examination, laboratory analysis and x-ray examination as any other doctor. In addition, they provide a careful chiropractic structural examination, paying particular attention to the spine.
If you have questions concerning this article please contact your health care provider or feel free to give Dr. Bean a call at Bean Chiropractic (916) 447-2200. You may also email him at dr_sbean@yahoo.com.
Sidney B. Bean, DC
Bean Chiropractic, 2716 V Street , Sacramento, CA 95818
www.beanchiropractic.com
