In the year 1884, the seeds of Naprapathy were unknowingly sowed when Oakley Smith contracted scarlet fever at the age of four. The ensuing battle for good health was the water that nurtured the future development of the science of Naprapathy. He was introduced to a variety of medical doctors, and the founders of osteopathy and chiropractic; and their subsequent failures was the sunshine that coaxed the seedling out of the ground and motivated him to take his health into his own hands. At 18 he studied under D.D. Palmer, to become a Chiropractor...the 11th Chiropractor ever. At the age of 20, still disenchanted with his health progression he began to instruct his brother Horton to apply his trial and error manipulative techniques to his fragile body – this was the bud. After three months of receiving treatments, five days a week, his health was restored to normal and he realized that he had done more than restore his health, he realized he developed a health care system. Naprapathy is the blossom and, in my opinion, it is a flower of unparalleled beauty.
Napravit: to correct
Pathos: suffering
Naprapathy – to correct suffering
Normally I would never be thankful for illness but in this case, a boy who contracted scarlet fever and his subsequent survival provided the world with a system of healing that is highly successful in obtaining the patient’s goal of pain removal.
Naprapathy is more than a series of techniques but it is an art-form that utilizes science for justification and evaluatory purposes. An art-form that makes a deep connection between the practitioner and the patient. As a health practitioner I don’t utilize pharmaceuticals because I have at my disposal the knowledge to utilize the fundamentals of nature. As Voltaire the French Philosopher stated, “The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” The Native American Indians revered nature and its healing powers when one lived in harmony with it. Ayurvedic medicine followed this philosophy and developed grand schools of thought on it…the Chinese, Japanese, and Greek’s healing arts subscribe to it. I myself believe that that the only thing I do when I treat a patient is to specifically interpret the body’s signals and to put everything back in its place so nature’s energy can correct the issue.
When I have a patient on the treatment table my evaluation skills allow me to manipulate the body without causing negative reaction. I treat the body as if it were personified as a teenager – if you harshly request something from a teenager he or she will rebel. However, if you positively influence the teenager he or she will usually comply without reservation. For instance, many times I have noticed muscle spasm after a high-velocity adjustment or the rapid return of a symptom when the proper technique has not been applied. Conversely, it is rare for my patients to experience a negative reaction. Granted it does take about 36 hours for the patient’s body to adapt to the applied techniques but virtually in all cases the pain is minimized and most of the time removed.
Naprapathy utilizes techniques that correspond to the body’s connection with nature’s energy. The science of Naprapathy is based on the fundamental principal of health - homeostasis, the ability to maintain balance between internal and external environments. Hippocrates stated, “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.” I believe Dr. Smith did this when developed the art and science of Naprapathy. Our training in repositioning anatomical structures, nutritional and botanical therapies allows us to work with nature and the body’s inherent knowledge of healing.
This concept is older than the oldest recorded medical history. A Doctor of Naprapathy realizes that each person is made up of a unique body-type and a unique psychological personality. Naprapathy respects the uniqueness of each person but does not limit itself to physical or psychological dimensions. I consider all levels of a person, which include spiritual, emotional, intellectual, behavioral, physical, familial, social, environmental, and universal. I also recognize that health is a process and not a state and the process is participatory. As a Naparapath my therapies are customized to suit the individual, not standardized for the imaginary “average person.” And lastly, my goal is to heal disease, re-establish balance, prevent disease, and promote positive health, rather than to suppress symptoms. The Naprapathic profession is the epitome of the new health care standard – the standard that was recognized 5,000 years ago and rediscovered in 1905 when Oakley Smith figured out how to heal his ailments, and the current renaissance of enlightened health care users and practitioners.
As the Taoist medical classic Nei Jing (The Internal Classic) dated 221 BC states: “To treat 100 kinds of illnesses, start with treating the back
