09/26/2025
“I was deaf 17 years and I expected to always remain so, for I had doctored a great deal without any benefit. I had long ago made up my mind to not take any more ear treatments, for it did me no good. Last January Dr. Palmer told me that my deafness came from an injury in my spine. This was new to me; but it is a fact that my back was injured at the time I went deaf. Dr. Palmer treated me on the spine; in two treatments I could hear quite well. That was eight months ago. My hearing remains good." - HARVEY LILLARD, 320 W. Eleventh St., Davenport, Iowa in 1895
WHY SEPTEMBER 18TH MATTERS
On September 18th, 1895, chiropractic was born! That’s the day when Dr. DD Palmer gave the first chiropractic adjustment to a man named Harvey Lillard. Harvey was a janitor at the Ryan Building in Davenport, Iowa, and he couldn’t hear.
THE FIRST ADJUSTMENT
Dr. Palmer was a magnetic healer. Back then, magnetic healing didn’t involve actual magnets. Doctors would try to pull evil energy out of the sick person’s body to heal them. Dr. Palmer noticed something odd about Harvey’s neck and thought that adjusting it might help his hearing. He made the historic adjustment, and Harvey’s hearing came back!
A NEW DISCOVERY
After Harvey, Dr. Palmer continued to help more people with different problems by adjusting their spines. He found that when he adjusted the spine, it helped with various issues like blood pressure and indigestion. This was the start of chiropractic care. His son, BJ Palmer, took his father’s work further. BJ studied cadavers (which wasn’t easily accepted back then) to trace the nerves affected by adjustments, showing how chiropractic works on the nervous system.
BJ AND THE GROWTH OF CHIROPRACTIC
BJ Palmer founded a chiropractic school and wrote textbooks to teach others. One important book written in 1914 still holds up today, although we have much better diagnostic equipment now. Chiropractic focuses on helping the nervous system function properly, which helps the body heal itself!
CHIROPRACTIC AND SCIENCE
Chiropractic doesn’t cure things like asthma, indigestion, or deafness directly. It helps the body function better by correcting something called vertebral subluxations. When these subluxations are corrected, the body can heal better on its own. Spread the word and tell others, it may just be exactly what they need!
Hyland Family Chiropractic “Achieving Wellness Naturally”
240 S. Main St. ▪ Monroe, OH 45050 ▪ (513)360-2930 ▪ www.hylandfamilychiro.com
