Chiropractic is a form of complementary and alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractors primarily practice manual therapy, with an emphasis on manipulation of the spine. They are most prevalent in the United States, Canada, Australia and parts of Europe. Most people who seek chiropractic care do so for low back pain.
Chiropractic was founded in 1895 in Davenport, United States, by magnetic healer D.D. Palmer who posited that dysfunctional spinal joints dubbed vertebral subluxations was responsible for disease by interfering with innate intelligence, the body’s natural healing mechanism. Early graduates of Palmer’s chiropractic rejected his “straight” monocausal view that all disease originated from the spine and opened competing schools which incorporated mainstream diagnostic approaches which incorporated spinal manipulations with other adjunctive forms of therapy such as massage and exercise.