October is National Chiropractic Health Month, and the story behind chiropractic is worth telling.
Chiropractic began in 1895 in Davenport, Iowa. attributed to Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer, a magnetic healer and grocer. Palmer listened to a local man, Harvey Lillard, a janitor who had lost most of his hearing years earlier, and upon an assessment Palmer found what seemed to be a bone out of place in his back, adjusted the area, and Lillard reported that his hearing improved afterward. Palmer became convinced that the spine and nervous system play a central role in health, and he founded a new profession built on that idea. His son, B.J. Palmer, helped grow it into a movement with schools, practitioners, and patients across the country.
Sounds crazy, Right? But…
It helps to remember what medicine looked like in 1895. Doctors commonly prescribed mercury-based purgatives, and opium, morphine, and laudanum were handed out freely for pain and “nerves.” Patent medicines laced with alcohol, opium, or even cocaine were sold with no government oversight. Bloodletting and leeching had declined by the 1890s but hadn’t vanished. Aspirin was still four years away, antibiotics were fifty years away, and surgery carried a high risk of infection. Medical schools were unregulated, and quality varied widely. For many people, a hands-on approach that avoided dangerous drugs and risky procedures was a welcome alternative.
Chiropractic’s early decades were not easy. Chiropractors were arrested and jailed for practicing without a medical license, even as patients kept coming back. By the mid-1900s, organized medicine had turned its opposition into policy. In 1963, the American Medical Association created a committee with the stated goal of containing, and ultimately eliminating, chiropractic. A 1966 AMA position called chiropractic an “unscientific cult,” and the AMA’s ethics rules barred medical doctors from associating with chiropractors. Doctors who referred patients to chiropractors or worked alongside them risked their reputations and standing.
In 1976, Dr. Chester Wilk and four other chiropractors filed suit against the AMA and other medical organizations. The case, Wilk v. American Medical Association, ran for more than a decade. In 1987, Judge Susan Getzendanner ruled that the AMA and its co-defendants had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to restrain and eliminate the chiropractic profession, in violation of antitrust law. The decision was upheld on appeal in 1990. The ruling opened the door to the cooperation we see today, with chiropractors working in hospitals, military and VA facilities, sports teams, and integrated care clinics.
At the heart of chiropractic is a philosophy that has endured since Palmer’s day: the nervous system coordinates and controls the body, and the spine protects it. When spinal joints are restricted or misaligned, chiropractors hold that this can interfere with how the nervous system functions and how well the body adapts and heals. Chiropractic adjustments aim to restore proper motion and function, supporting the body’s own ability to regulate itself. Patients often come in for back or neck pain and stay because they feel better overall. Research strongly supports spinal manipulation for low back pain in particular, and it is widely recognized as a safe, conservative option.
Chiropractic was never about opposing medicine. It was about offering people another path to better health, one that doesn’t start with drugs or surgery. The profession has survived opposition, lawsuits, and skepticism because patients kept finding relief and a better quality of life.
That mission lives on right here in Knightdale. At Camelot Chiropractic Centre, our team is dedicated to helping patients in Knightdale and the surrounding communities move better, feel better, and get to the root of their health concerns through natural, drug-free, surgery-free care. For more than 2 decades we have been using traditional and modern approaches to help our patients heal. Always with the goal to help you get better without Drugs or Surgery. Whether you’re dealing with back pain, neck pain, headaches, or simply want to support your body’s health, we’d be honored to be part of your journey.
This National Chiropractic Health Month, come see what chiropractic can do for you. Call Camelot Chiropractic Centre at 919-261-9444 or visit at 4023 Village Park Drive, Knightdale, NC.