Palmer Sarnoff
Your Chiropractor, Inc. has a mascot that everybody loves to come and visit. His name is Palmer Sarnoff, a six and a half year old King Charles spaniel. He often greets people at the door with a wagging tail. Palmer’s typical day consists of sleeping in his bed underneath the desk and greeting clients. Every once in a while he will come out for an afternoon treat and adjustment. Palmer is the official greeter for the office.
How Did Dr. David Name Palmer?
The history of Chiropractic began in 1895 when Daniel David Palmer of Iowa performed the first chiropractic adjustment on a partially deaf janitor, Harvey Lillard, who then mentioned a few days later to Palmer that his hearing seemed better. This led to Palmer opening a school of chiropractic two years later. The word "chiropractic" was coined from Greek root words by Rev. Samel Weed. Chiropractic's early philosophy was rooted in vitalism, naturalism, magnetism, spiritualism and other constructs that were not amenable to the scientific method. Chiropractic's founder, D.D. Palmer, attempted to merge science and metaphysics. In 1896, D.D. Palmer's first descriptions and underlying philosophy of chiropractic was strikingly similar to Andrew Still's principles of osteopathy established a decade earlier. Both described the body as a "machine" whose parts could be manipulated to produce a drugless cure. Both professed the use of spinal manipulation on joint dysfunction/subluxation to improve health. Palmer drew further distinctions by noting that he was the first to use short-lever HVLA manipulative techniques using the spinous process and transverse processes as mechanical levers. He described the effects of chiropractic spinal manipulation as being mediated primarily by the nervous system.
The First Chiropractic Adjustment
Daniel David Palmer (D.D. Palmer), a teacher and grocer turned magnetic healer, opened his office of magnetic healing in Davenport, Iowa in 1886. After nine years, D.D. Palmer gave the first chiropractic adjustment to Harvey Lillard, on September 18, 1895. Gillard informed Palmer that while working in a cramped area seventeen years earlier, he felt a 'pop' in his back, and had been nearly deaf ever since. Palmer's examination found a sore lump which he believed was a spinal misalignment and a possible cause of Lillard's poor hearing. Palmer claimed to have corrected the misalignment and that Lillard's hearing improved.