Raymond L. Nimmo and the evolution of trigger point therapy, 1929-1986.

Dr. Raymond L. Nimmo (1904-86) was the definitive chiropractic pioneer in the now widely accepted field of soft tissue and trigger point therapy. This article explores how Nimmo was able to make the radical conceptual leap from moving bones to working with muscles that move the bones. Also discussed are the neurophysiological explanations that Nimmo evolved in the 1950s for the trigger point phenomenon, formulations that are still regarded as highly sophisticated half a century later. Finally, the article describes how Nimmo, with a basic chiropractic education absent much of the background in the biological and physical sciences of today's preparation, was able to combine his clinical experiences and intellectual formulation to arrive at a theory that became widely accepted.

D.D. Palmer: the origins of the Palmer School and the itinerant schoolman, 1897-1913.

For the last sixteen years of his life, Daniel David Palmer was involved in at least ten institutions in four states offering a course in chiropractic. In a five year period spanning the end of nineteenth and the start of the twentieth centuries, D.D. began the chiropractic educational experience with the Chiropractic School and Cure in Davenport's Ryan Building, suceeded by the Palmer School and Infirmary of Chiropractic (PSIC), followed by the Palmer School of Chiropractic. Further documentation is needed to place Palmer in the East during late 1900, where he may have engaged in the first of his preceptor schools. The Discoverer went to California in 1902 where he presided over the Chiropractic School and Infirmary first in Pasadena and then in Santa Barbara. Returning to Davenport, he joined his son B.J. at the school until he sold his interest in 1906 and moved to Oklahoma City. Between 1907 and 1908, he was part of the Palmer-Gregory College and then his own Palmer College, moving to Portland, Oregon. This involved two institutions through 1911, when the senior Palmer settled in Los Angeles, conducted his own school and lectured at the Ratledge and Universal colleges until his death.

The search for Alma Arnold: chiropractic's forgotten woman pioneer, 1903-1938.

Alma Cusian Arnold (1871-19??) was one of the first woman chiropractors, having graduated from Langsworthy's American School in 1903. Within the next decade, she would establish dual practices in Washington and New York with a patient constituency which included members of Congress, a Vice President and Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. She authored a book, was president of two schools of chiropractic and was arrested and imprisoned for her advocacy of the new profession. Engaging in critical dialogue over her technique with both Palmers, Arnold would establish a "Healtharium" with Terrance V. Powderly, the most prominent labor leader of the late 19th century and later Commissioner of Immigration. Her story is a personification of the exceptional men and women who formulated early chiropractic.

A comparison of weightbearing pressures in various postoperative devices.

Currently, there are a multitude of computerized gait analysis systems to evaluate weightbearing patterns in the foot. The following study utilizes the F-Scan System of foot pressure analysis. This system was applied to evaluate plantar pressures as they occur in various postoperative shoe gear and to determine which devices are most clinically beneficial in ambulatory surgery. A pressure sensor recorded plantar pressures in 20 feet wearing various types of postoperative shoe wear. Initially, a stockinette was used to simulate barefoot pressure, followed by a wooden postoperative shoe, a Darco postoperative shoe, a Darco closed postoperative shoe, a Darco "softie," a Darco wedge, an Equalizer Premium Walker, an Equalizer Low Top Walker, and an Aircast. The results demonstrated that the Equalizer Premium Walker was most efficient in reducing forefoot pressures, while the postoperative surgical shoes had variable results, noticeably with several increases in pressure being recorded.

"With malice aforethought": revisiting the BJ Palmer "patricide" controversy.

For over eight decades of chiropractic's existence, one of the myths associated with Founder Daniel David Palmer was the unsupported and largely surreptitious allegation that his son, B.J. Palmer, was somehow respondible for his death; What became known as the Palmer "patricide controversy" involved many of the players in early chiropractic and became little more than a sordid melodrama involving rival schools, chiropractic politicians and lawyers. It involved three Iowa grand juries and lawsuits and brought out the worst passions and actions of a family that had never really understood the father or the son. This study will review the original events, the allegations by those who sought to indict B.J. Palmer for the wrongful death of his father and the ultimate disposition of the incident, which still finds credence today among some who see conspiracy theories within the evolution of chiropractic.