Andrews Clinic of Natural Therapies

An Overview of The History of Bonesetters

Manipulation techniques whether they be Osteopathic or Chiropractic are not new, they may have been altered, but the fact remains they are not exclusive or unique to either of these practitioner titles.

Manipulative practitioners and techniques were used long before the above titles came into existence.

A wheel is a wheel, no matter how you alter it, it still needs to be a round shape !

One Chiropractor even suggested that "primitive forms of Chiropractic were used  as early as 17,500 B.C. by Hippocrates", not that Chiropractors had just changed the name and used these manipulative techniques, or is this writer really 'old' or is it that Hippocrates didn't know about Osteopathy ?

Hippocrates advised: "Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases."

Herodotus, gained fame curing diseases by correcting spinal abnormalities through therapeutic exercises (is this the first documented form of Physiotherapy ?).

If the patient was too weak to exercise, Herodotus would manipulate the patient's spine (obviously Chiropractic or Osteopathic !).

The philosopher Aristotle was critical of Herodotus' tonic-free approach because, "he made old men young and thus prolonged their lives too greatly."

The craft of bonesetting has been practiced since early in history, having roots among the Greeks and Egyptians (Sigerist, 1971:36; Filer, 1996:86-90; Majno, 1975:73-75; Nunn, 1996:174-181).

Muslim medicine has also paid formal attention to bonesetting, anticipating its place in institutional medicine much later in time (Anderson, 1983:14; Douglass, 1994:181).

People all over the World have developed their own systems for diagnosing and treating the person via manipulation.

Anderson, Robert T. 1983 : On Doctors and Bonesetters in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Chiropractic History (3)1:11-15.

Majno, Guido1975 : The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Sigerist, Henry E. 1971: The Great Doctors. Dover Publications, Inc. New York.

Moving Forward ...........

Osteopathy ..........

In 1892, Dr. Andrew Taylor Still opened the American School of Osteopathy (ASO) in a 16-foot by 22-foot frame building in Kirksville, MO.

The school's original charter, granted on May 10, 1892, gave it the right to confer the doctor of medicine (M.D.) degree, but ASO's governing body chose to award the diplomate* of osteopathy (D.O.) degree instead.

Believing that medicine should offer the patient more, Dr. Still supported a philosophy of medicine different from the practice of his day and in their place he advocated the use of manipulation.

Chiropractic .........

Dr. Daniel David Palmer a Canadian-born teacher and healer was born in 1845 on the Ontario frontier at the age of 11, a business failure forced his family to move to the U.S.

He and his younger brother stayed behind and worked in a factory until 1865, by the 1880s, Palmer's thirst for knowledge led him to learn magnetic healing.

This therapy used the body's magnetism to heal others. Palmer opened his first magnetic healing practice in Burlington, Iowa.

A year later, in 1887, Palmer moved to Davenport, Iowa, where he started another practice.

The first recorded chiropractic adjustment was performed on September 18,1895, by Dr. Daniel David Palmer.

Bonesetters of Germany and France using their skills and knowledge of manipulation by both male and female practitioners, superseded Still and Palmer.

A doctor was not always available in the country or affordable for farmers, and traditional ways of treatment were commonly used, what we now know by the name of manipulation.

Bonesetters were the people called upon to help and treat the local people, they usually had a second 'official' job so that they would not to be accused of illegal medical practice in Europe.

For the sceptical amongst us, if these practitioners had not been successful with their 'skills' and treatment, their knowledge would have lost or died with them, there would NOT have been any Osteopaths or Chiropractors.

These techniques evolved and are still used as they were when practitioners were known as Bonesetters !

True Story ..........

I remember attending a course in Southampton and a very well known doctor was complaining about his back.

On the course were 3 Osteopaths as I was and 1 Chiropractor who proceeded to insist and advise him to see one of their 'ilk', so that he would be treated properly and not by a 'quack'.

Registration wasn't even being thought about at this time.

The doctor proceeded to tell them that he had seen all manner of Osteopaths and Chiropractors to no avail but had finally found someone after being informed about the practitioner by one of his patients who could help with his problematic back and maintain him.

He then informed them that the 'practitioner' was a farmer who treated people in his barn on a bale of hay, and that as far as he was concerned the farmer was the best thing since sliced bread in treating his back condition.

Silence ensued ............ 

The Future is Osteomyology

Two practitioners noticed that a lot of other practitioners attended courses and seminars that were sometimes allied to Osteopathy or Chiropractic, or at other times the courses or seminars had a completely different 'approach' on health and treatment from these old traditional practices, but still attained results.

The Association of Osteomyology was then formed with a vision of a new 'breed' of practitioner, who still had the skills of Osteopathy and Chiropractic with the addition of other skills incorporated within their treatments.

Now it seems to have gone full circle as the Association has other practitioners who have joined the Association.

Bringing with them, their knowledge, skills and a thirst for knowledge, from the multi-faceted approach of the Registered Osteomyologist.

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Last modified: 06/14/08