Subluxation Theory
Palmer believed in the pre-scientific vitalistic notion that health stems from the flow of a spiritual life force. Although vitalism was rapidly declining within scientific thought by the end of the 19th century, it was the centerpiece of early philosophies of health in most cultures. Palmer borrowed this ancient belief and renamed it “innate intelligence” which he claimed flowed from the brain to the rest of the body through the spinal cord and peripheral nerves. All disease, he argued, results from disruption in the flow of innate intelligence. Disruption in flow is caused by spinal subluxations, which are small misalignments in the spine that compress the spinal nerves. |