CHIRORACTIC SPECIALTY OLD OR NEW?

The chiropractic specialty is only a slight more than a century old, but manipulation in its various forms has been used to treat men and women ailments since antiquity. Although no one origin is noted, manual procedures are evident in Thai artwork dating back 4000 years. Ancient  Chinese, Egyptian, Japanese and Tibetan records describe the use of manipulation to treat dis-ease. Drawings indicate the application of this treatment form from the time of the ancient Greeks through the middle ages indifferent parts of the eastern and western world.  manual procedures was also a part of the North and South American Indian cultures. Certainly, Hippocrates (460—355 B/C) was known to use manual procedures in treating spinal deformity, and the noted physicians Galen (131—202 AD), Celsus, and Orbasius alluded to manipulation in their writings. The 19th century wftnessed a growth in popularity of American and English “bonesetters,” the  well known being Mr. Hutton, who influenced the thoughts and writing of Sir James Paget and Wharton Hood. Bonesetters were often called upon to provide treatment for many types of maladies. Bonesetting was often practiced by families. It evolved from a lay practice developed from the peasant revival of manipulation after it went underground during the seventeenth century.