by Paisley Parmer

Created on: November 13, 2009   Last Updated: November 17, 2009

Dating back to the time of the Ancient Egyptians chiropractic has been a chosen method of relief for patients. Modern day chiropractic as we know is thought to have begun in 1895 with the reported restoration of the hearing of a deaf man completed when a mere apprentice of magnetic healing, Daniel David Palmer, adjusted his misaligned vertebrae. Modern chiropractic is founded upon the principles of Palmer that he taught in his school, which focused on the misalignment of vertebrae. Palmer believed that when not properly treated the pinched nerves were responsible for the other illness which people suffered.

The basic principle of chiropractic care is to locate vertebrae in the spine that are not moving properly. Once a chiropractor locates the misaligned vertebrae, they then manipulate and adjust them back into proper position to relieve pressure from the joints, nerves and muscles. Manipulations, done by adding force in a specific manner to the affected area carried out with various methods and techniques depending on the person and health issue at hand.

The dozens of techniques and methods used by chiropractors can vary greatly in their principal of approach and tools used. Traditionally chiropractic medicine was only carried out using the hands to apply pressure to affected areas but many modern techniques use tools such as activators to apply pressure. Tools like an activator allow the chiropractor to apply a quick forceful pressure that could not be accomplished with an adjustment done by the hands. Likewise, the traditional method of adjusting with the hands allows a chiropractor to apply a slow and constant pressure when needed.

While the American Medical Association has highly refuted the effectiveness of chiropractic care in the past their disputes were overruled by the Supreme Court in 1990 when they ruled that "chiropractors are particularly effective in relieving long term chronic and severe pain syndromes, headaches, and stress and strain problems associated with pregnancy." Chiropractic care has proven effective in relieving pain associated with acute, chronic and general low-back pain, neck pain, headaches, carpel tunnel syndrome, Fibromyalgia and infantile colic. Chiropractic care was stated to be an effective tool in the rehabilitation process for some patients by researchers Triano, McGregor, and Skogsbergh in 1997.

The effectiveness of the chiropractic method should not come as a surprise though since a chiropractor goes through a more rigorous

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