Today’s date marks 116 years since the first chiropractic adjustment was given in Davenport, Iowa. On September 18, 1895, it was Daniel David Palmer (the Father of Chiropractic) making a hands on healing connection and curing a deaf janitor named Harvey Lillard. The Ryan building janitor had been plagued by years of deafness following an injury, and the hands-on thrusting and realignment of spinal vertebrae, provided a miracle today known as a chiropractic adjustment.

On September 11, 2001 America’s nervous system suffered a massive insult, overloading all physical and emotional stress circuits. We became stronger, increasing our compassion, capacity, and production. We became more fragile, and so many made promises, seeking a little something, some substance, with all of life’s sauce.

Is it time for chiropractors to begin marketing themselves as manual therapists in order to fit in to some medical model? Is the profession predominantly in favor of peddling muscle relaxers and other pharmaceuticals while performing colonics and doing foot baths? Have the colleges gotten so far out of touch with the rest of the industry that churning out student failures has become the primary business model? The doom and gloom train has left the station but someone forgot to send me a ticket.

COCSA formalized the partnership by launching a nationwide program, Healing Hands 4 Heroes, and by becoming the first health care profession to sign an Army Community Covenant. With a registration code from the local State Chiropractic Association, chiropractors can register free of charge for any of the three courses: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Issues of Women Returning from Combat.