McTimoney Chiropractic - History
and Treatment
This year Chiropractic is 100 years old. It was founded in 1895 by David Palmer in Davenport, USA who
chose the name Chiropractic from the Greek ôCheir Praktikosö meaning ôdone by handö. Through a
sometimes turbulent history chiropractic began to enjoy a good reputation in more recent years, practised by
thousands of practitioners worldwide. However, to one man it seemed that its original simplicity and subtle
hands on approach was beginning to disappear beneath a desire to become respectable and scientific, with an
emphasis on technology including x-rays and a more mechanical view of the human body. This man was
John McTimoney who decided to train in chiropractic after experiencing its effectiveness and seeing its great
potential. From 1951 when he started practising in Oxfordshire, England, he refined and developed what he
had been taught into a total chiropractic method that re-integrated the whole body structurally. He returned
to PalmerÆs original insights and techniques in his quest for an effective, natural and non-invasive treatment
of dis-ease. He not only applied this to humans, but was the first chiropractor to formulate a chiropractic
analysis and treatment for animals.
In 1972 John McTimoney began training people in his own unique approach to chiropractic and by the time
he died in 1980 enough people had been taught by him so that this valuable technique and philosophy would
not be lost. Thus the McTimoney Chiropractic School was born, now a successful school in Oxford with an
intake of 50 students a year for its four year training programme.
It aims at restoring a personÆs total structural integrity in a safe and comfortable manner. It employs no
instruments other than the hands of the practitioner, no medication and normally no x-rays. Structural or
bony misalignments can interfere with the correct nerve function, resulting in a whole variety of symptoms:
not just pain or muscular spasm, but also numbness, tingling, organ malfunction, loss of strength and
mobility, reduced vitality and well-being, a general lack of ease or dis-ease.
McTimoney chiropractors detect and adjust these misaligned bones in the whole skeletal system by hand,
through precise, deft and very quick movements, thus restoring proper nerve function, tone vitality and
transforming the cause of so many health problems. Natural self- healing is encouraged through this
approach, as well as the prevention of future problems by helping to maintain good structural alignment and
well-being.
Copyright © 1995 The International Communique Ltd