Use of the term subluxation in publications during the formative years of the chiropractic profession

Abstract

The term subluxation has come to have different meanings for different health care professions in the United States for over the past century. This controversy has resulted in some contention both internal and external to the chiropractic profession. Some current factions within the chiropractic profession hold the term subluxation to be synonymous with the identity of chiropractic itself; however, this term was not solely used by chiropractic during its formative years. The purpose of this article is to look at uses of the term by various professions (osteopathy, medicine, and chiropractic) at the turn of the century, a time in which the chiropractic profession was developing.

Keywords: Chiropractic profession; Osteopathy; Subluxation.

Fig 1

American School of Chiropractic advertisement in the Columbus Medical Journal: A Medical Magazine for the Home vol 32 no 9 September 1908.

Fig 2

The 2-volume set of Modernized Chiropractic published in early 1906.

Fig 3

Description of a subluxation according to Smith, Langworthy, and Paxon.

Fig 4

Image from the 1906 book The Science of Chiropractic: Its Principles and Adjustments that DD Palmer used to demonstrate subluxation.

Fig 5

A, Backbone vol 1 no 1 1903, published in Cedar Rapids, IA. B, Journal of Osteopathy vol 4 no 1 1897. Published by the American School of Osteopathy, Kirksville, MO.

Fig 6

A, Chiropractic patient recruiting advertisement. B, Osteopathic patient recruiting advertisement.

Fig 7

Image from the 1904 surgical textbook by von Bergmann E and von Bruns showing subluxation (partial dislocation of the vertebra) and luxation (full dislocation).

Fig 8

Portrait of DD Palmer, founder of the chiropractic profession.