Naprapathy Chicago

"The Doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease." - Thomas Edison

What is Naprapathy?

Naprapathy, at the Apollo Wellness Center, utilizes hands-on healing techniques as well as nutritional counseling, exercise, and relaxation methods to treat a range of health problems. The goal of this therapy is to restore natural flexibility and release tension, leaving the connective tissues pliable and in balance. This not only relieves pain and improves mobility, but enhances blood flow, nerve conduction, and the body's own healing energy. Like chiropractors, naprapaths will employ nutritional supplements and herbs to facilitate the body's ability to heal itself.

The History of Naprapathy

Naprapathy was developed in the late 1800s by Dr. Oakley Smith, who departed from his original chiropractic training after that method failed to work for his own chronic back pain. After much experimentation on himself (with the help of his brother), Smith cured his back problem by manipulating the soft body tissues (muscles, ligaments, tendons) surrounding the spine, rather than treating the spine itself.

Smith came to believe that it was energy blockages in the soft tissues that not only caused back problems like his but also led to a variety of other physical complaints. These blockages, he suggested, appeared as muscular contractions in response to psychological conflicts, physical injuries, poor nutrition, and improper posture. The concept that disease results from blocked energy was hardly a new one-Oriental and Ayurvedic medicine were founded on it-and yet Smith's theories were considered highly innovative. In 1907 he founded what is today known as the Chicago National College of Naprapathy, one of two accredited schools for this profession in the world (the other is in Sweden, see How to Choose a Practitioner).

Today, naprapathy is used effectively to treat a wide array of ailments. Most common are back, neck, and hip problems, which in turn may produce systemic complaints such as low energy, tension headaches, digestive disorders, or unexplained depression, for example. During treatment, the spine is at times manipulated, but only to use the vertebrae as "levers" for stretching the soft tissue, not to alter their position (as in chiropractic subluxation).

Because Smith's teachings emphasized specific stretching or "mobilization" of soft tissues, naprapathic manipulation is not highly forceful. After locating areas of pain or rigidity (called "ligatites"), a naprapath will gently manipulate the tissues, stretch and massage constricted areas, and apply pressure to specific places (called trigger points) until the muscle, tendon, or ligament loosens.