A Chiropractic Miracle?

On September 18, 1895, D.D. Palmer performed his first adjustment on a janitor, Harvey Lillard, who had been deaf for seventeen years. The man’s hearing returned, and because of the success of Palmer’s spinal adjustment, the modern recorded history of chiropractic began.

Here is the description of this event in D.D. Palmer’s own words.

“Harvey Lillard… could not hear the racket of a wagon on the street or the ticking of a watch. I made inquiry as to the cause of his deafness and was informed that when he was exerting himself in a cramped, stooping position, he felt something give way in his back and immediately became deaf.

“An examination showed a vertebra racked from its normal position. I reasoned that if that vertebra was replaced, the man’s hearing should be restored. With this object in view, a half hour’s talk persuaded Mr. Lillard to allow me to replace it. I racked it into position by using the spinous process as a lever, and soon the man could hear as before

“There was nothing accidental about this as it was accomplished with an object in view, and the result expected was obtained. There was nothing `crude` about this adjustment; it was specific, so much so that no other Chiropractor has equaled it.”