History of Naprapathic Medicine

In the early 1900s a chiropractor and osteopathic student named Dr. Oakley Smith (1880-1967) from Iowa, devised a system of treatment for evaluating and healing damaged connective tissue, and the discovery of the “Ligatite”.  These together, constitutes the beginning point of Naprapathic Medicine, also called, Naprapathy.

Growing up, Oakley Smith developed scarlet fever at the age of 4 and became quite ill.  His quest to heal became his life’s work.  After graduating from Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1899, he went on to attend medical school at the University of Iowa, but was only there for a short time because he returned to study under D.D. Palmer, (the founder of modern Chiropractic).  But eventually Dr. Smith became quite dismayed and eventually abandoned Palmer’s theory of bony subluxation as the cause for all illness.  He decided to spend years developing his own research and test his own theories behind neuro-muscular dysfunction and the cause of pain.  He found the issue was found primarily in the neurological and musculoskeletal systems (muscles, nerves, joints, bones, and other connective tissues).  These results were confirmed by gently treating the connective tissues and reducing tension; this would relax the body from constrictions and relieve a wide variety of symptoms. 

During a study tour to Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) Dr. Smith witnessed local Bohemians performing manual techniques on one another to alleviate the pain from long days of physical labor.  There was a similarity in the Bohemians technique and his theories.  This old healing practice, “Napravit Thrust”, utilized gentle manipulations to loosen and relax constricted joints.  In the Bohemian language, napravit means “to correct”.   Dr. Smith took “napra” from napravit (to correct the cause) and added the Greek word pathos (suffering) to coin the name naprapathy, and this is where the profession of Naprapathy aquired it’s name; which literally means “to correct the cause of suffering.”