MEDICAL DICTIONARY
Chiropractor: Someone who practices chiropractic. Chiropractic defined as a system of diagnosis and treatment that is based upon the concept that the nervous system coordinates all of the body's functions and holds that disease results from a lack of normal nerve function and employs manipulation and specific adjustment of body structures such as the spinal column so that pressure on nerves coming from the spinal cord due to displacement (subluxation) of a vertebral body may, it is believed, cause problems not only in the back but some distance from it as in the leg. Chiropractors therefore work to manipulate the spine with their hands to realign the vertebrae and relieve the pressure on the nerves. Chiropractic treatment is believed effective for muscle spasms of the back and neck, tension headaches, and some sorts of leg pain.
Modern chiropractic was founded by Daniel David Palmer, a grocer, who performed his first chiropractic adjustment in 1895. The term "chiropractic" derived from the Greek "chir-" referring to the hand + "prassein", to do = to do with the hands (to manipulate) dates to 1898, the year Palmer founded the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.
Not all chiropractors are alike in their practice. The International Chiropractors Association believes that patients should be treated by spinal manipulation alone while the American Chiropractors Association advocate a multidisciplinary approach that combines spinal adjustment with other modalities such as physical therapy, psychological counseling, and dietary measures. For some years the American Medical Association (AMA) opposed chiropractic because of what it termed a "rigid adherence to an irrational, unscientific approach to disease." However, Congress amended the Medicare Act in 1972 to include benefits for chiropractic services and in 1978 the AMA modified its position on chiropractic. To become a doctor of chiropractic (D.C.) requires minimally 2 years of college and 4 years in a school of chiropractic.
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