Wow ... this is one of those mind bogglers:

The actual profession of chiropractic as a distinct form of health care dates back to around 1895, although even the Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC), known as the "father of medicine," noted that one should "get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite of many diseases." Herodotus, a contemporary of Hippocrates, gained some fame with his use of therapeutic exercises to cure diseases. When a patient was unable to perform these exercises, Herodotus would do the work with his hands, manipulating the spine, which reportedly led the philosopher Aristotle to register a criticism of his "tonic-free" approach that might well, then and now, have sent older men rushing to their nearest chiropractor.

"Herodotus," Aristotle complained, "made old men young and thus prolonged their lives too greatly."


What's especially boggling is that this claim exists all over the web at a number of 'history of chiropractic' type sites, e.g., World Chiropractic Alliance, Greenspan Chiropractors, etc.. Even more disturbing, the identification of Herodotus as a chiropractor appears in a large number of books.

Now although Herodotus did write much about ancient medicine as practiced by the Egyptians, I can find no evidence that he himself engaged in anything approaching medicine on any level. HE WAS AN HISTORIAN -- heck, he's even called the FATHER OF HISTORY (although Hecataeus keeps asking for a blood test). I also am not even going to make the effort to track down the complaint from Aristotle, which clearly only appears in the history of chiropractic type sites mentioned above. Another remedial class to open ... I hope the guys who work on my back etc. have a rather firmer grasp on critical thinking than the authors of the above ...


Knowledge of the Spine (Wrightsville Beach Magazine)