Something You Probably Never Heard of: Naprapathic Medicine

Discussion in 'Nursing and medical-related degrees' started by sanantone, May 2, 2013.

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  1. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    This profession has a lot in common with chiropractic medicine and osteopathic medicine in that it focuses on manipulations. Only one state in the U.S. recognizes and regulates naprapathy: Illinois. There is also only one school in the U.S. that offers this degree program and it's in Illinois. The college is unaccredited but state-approved. Apparently, naprapaths are more popular than chiropractors in Sweden according to a Swedish person on a message board.

    National College of Naprapathic Medicine - Naprapath School - Pain Treatment
     
  2. ryoder

    ryoder New Member

    This sounds a little like the scam art of reflexology. Is it similar?

    "The best evidence available to date does not demonstrate convincingly that reflexology is an effective treatment for any medical condition."
     
  3. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

  4. Delta

    Delta Active Member

    NPI number

    Looks like Naprapathy is a Medicare recognized profession for reimbursement in other words, a provider can get a NPI number:
    "Status
    Active
    Code
    172P00000X
    Type
    Level II Classification
    Naprapath
    Naprapathy means a branch of medicine that focuses on the evaluation and treatment of neuron-muscular conditions. Doctors of naprapathy are connective tissue specialists. Education and training are defined through individual states’ licensing/certification requirements. Source: National Uniform Claim Committee [1/1/2007: new]"

    National Uniform Claim Committe - Code Lookup

    Sounds like advanced Kinesiology/physical therapy to me! Rocky Mountain University a regionally accredited school and distant learning with on campus requirements has a Dsc with a concentration in electrophysiology. Is SUNM online?
     
  5. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Although, even the osteopaths have backed away from osteopathic manipulation.
     
  6. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Interesting. I usually skip over any college that doesn't have .edu in its web address, but this school claims to be licensed by the New Mexico Higher Education Department.
     
  7. Jeremy

    Jeremy Member

    Last edited by a moderator: May 3, 2013
  8. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

  9. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Not to defend purportedly medical entities with dubious scientific basis, but there are a few cases where a school is state licensed for decades without accreditation and is still generally accepted to be real. WISR is one example. So that in and of itself isn't necessarily a red flag.
     
  10. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    It is with great delight that I necromance this incredibly obscure thread.

    I was traveling for business recently and I happened to find myself in New Mexico to visit a subsidiary. While there I had the occasion to do a "ride-along" with a field technician nicknamed "Doc." I was immediately curious. Was it just a nickname? Or was this, perhaps, a Levicoff-esque type who was rocking a Union PhD while making his living with a more humble trade. I couldn't wait to find out more.

    Turns out "Doc" is an "herbalist" who often shares natural remedies with his co-workers and their families and, at present, is working his shifts around his studies at the Southwest University of Naprapathic Medicine. This is officially the second time I ever heard "Naprapathy" brought up in conversation and the only time I met a practitioner of this, uh, craft? Art? Science?

    This prompted me to research naprapathy a bit on the flight home. And I was impressed by an fascinating fact; Two states license naprapaths. Two schools train napropaths. Neither school is accredited.
     
  11. GoodYellowDogs

    GoodYellowDogs New Member

    Interesting. I think that Medicare is going to pay for osteopathic manipulations starting next year, but it looks like they also pay for the naprapaths.
     
  12. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    If I was going to study anything "alternative" it would be Doctor of Plant Medicine.


    The patients don't pay well, but they don't complain as much either.
     
  13. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    Doctor of Plant Medicine (DPM)? I feel like this is a sure fire way to get on your podiatrist's poop list.
     
  14. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    That's okay, plants love that stuff.
     
  15. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    [​IMG]
     
  16. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    You're right- and this is old, but it's late and I'm sleepy. Medical malpractice implications of alternative medicine. - PubMed - NCBI
    I think psychology is at play in alternative therapies, not trickery necessarily, but more like comradery. It's natural to feel enthusiasm for a practitioner who is so concerned, spends time with you, and gives you power over your condition (perceived or real) and is so friendly. To turn him in -or accuse him of quackery- would mean that YOU were wrong- it's why people don't usually report being conned- they're embarrassed. (and to hear your own doctor say "see I told you so" ??? Who would sign up for that!?!?)
     
  17. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Well, if I had incurred some substantial out of pocket expense I might be inclined to sue if I thought I might recover the money I'd spent.
     
  18. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    It depends on the kinds of alternative therapies you're referring to. Many prescription and over-the-counter medications are derived from plants that have long been used for ailments. AZO makes an OTC medication for urinary problems made from cranberries. A naturopath and even an allopathic physician will tell you to drink cranberry juice.
     
  19. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member


    Years ago it was considered unethical for a doctor to criticize another doctor. Today, that seems to be limited to criticizing another doctor in front of a patient. Still, when I visited my elderly ophthalmologist the first time it was very clear he felt that a condition in my left eye had been misdiagnosed. Very clear. Yet, when I asked him to say those words, he became nervous and repeatedly said things like "I never said that it was misdiagnosed and I would never say that Dr. X did something wrong, I just feel that..."

    Nowadays you can't lose your ability to practice for criticizing another doctor. You can't get blackballed and lose your admitting privileges at a hospital. And, if you're really good at criticizing other doctors, there are malpractice attorneys willing to cut you very large checks to testify in court.

    In this survey, 2 of 3 dentists said that they felt it was unethical to criticize another dentist's work. To be fair, that statement may mean different things to different people. Perhaps some of the surveyed dentists felt this to mean criticism in front of a patient. Others may have taken it to mean blogging about another dentist's work. But, as noted, this professional courtesy seems to override other concerns.

    I'm no CAM fan. And, honestly, I would have far greater concerns for my children if they told me they intended to become naturopaths or chiropractors than if they told me they intended to study art history or enroll at the Art Institutes. But, if we are to criticize CAM practitioners for not criticizing one another in a clear-cut case of CYA then we need to criticize everyone for doing the same. It isn't fair to single them out. Doctors, dentists, mechanics, police officers and many many other people will try to "look out for their own." It isn't necessarily a conscious decision. It's a herd mentality where you want to protect colleagues and, in return, have them protect you.

    I know little of naprapathy. However, it doesn't seem to be nearly as intense as some chiropractic practices so I doubt a naprapath has paralyzed anyone like chiropractors have. They don't seem as keen on trying to treat your cancer so I doubt they impose some of the ineffective and dangerous treatment as some naturopaths have done. And while I don't really have an issue (though I do regard it as ineffective) with acupuncture, it is often paired with Orientatal or Traditional Chinese Medicine which, like the other two, has caused problems in the past (granted, I'm a bit biased on this front because my father's heart attack a few years back was tied, in part, to an herb he had taken, dispensed by the acupuncturist who lived next door to him, to try to treat his cold).

    Naprapathy seems to be mainly about stretches. To me, that makes it a pointless discipline and one better handled by massage and physical therapists. But, I would imagine, makes it less likely to actually do anything that could constitute malpractice.

    If any CAM treatment is potentially dangerous, in and of itself, then I think it shouldn't be an option on the table at all. Beyond that, CAM treatments should really only constitute malpractice when the practitioner pushes them as being far less "complementary" and much more "alternative." Giving a cancer patient a massage and a cup of herbal tea is one thing. Telling said cancer patient that they should immediately stop chemo, empty their bank account, and head to your clinic in Mexico for coffee enemas, for example, is much more problematic.

    Complicating the matter further (after this, I promise, I'll stop) is the fact that many M.D.'s would never wag their finger and say "I told you so" because many of them are recommending these sorts of treatments! New York has a procedure in place for an M.D. to practice acupuncture. What are the odds that an M.D., who engages in the practice of an ancient medical technique that has been refuted by modern science, would ever say "I told you so" to a victim of malpractice? Though I imagine said M.D. would also be less likely to call out a CAM practitioner if they recommended that sort of treatment.

    Point: Do your homework before you shell out your money.
     
  20. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    1. I'm sure they like to think of themselves as "advanced physical therapy" but remember that this discipline was developed outside the realm of PT around the same time. Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't just get absorbed into mainstream PT (or even back into Chiropractic).

    2. No, SUNM is not online. They have a full-time and accelerated residential Doctor of Naprapathy program which takes 3-4 years. While it's clever to look at this and say "Why not make it online? Only licensed in two states, the founder of the school is also the guy behind establishing the NM license. They can pretty much do whatever they want."

    Thing is, naprapathy is pretty popular in Scandinavia. If you look at the New Mexico licensing law it basically opens the door for naprapaths from Finland and Sweden to be licensed right along side licensed practitioners from Illinois. So, it's a small movement. And presently I've located three schools for it (Illinois, NM and Sweden). If they are truly trying to ramp themselves into the mainstream I doubt they would go online, particularly as they are trying to convince states that they are worthy of licenses.

    If this area is of interest there are a few tangentially related subjects available online:

    New York Chiropractic College has an Online M.S. in Applied Clinical Nutrition
    The University of Bridgeport has an Online M.S. in Nutrition as well.
    The American College of Healthcare Sciences (DEAC) has Masters in aromatherapy, CAM, Herbal Medicine, Health and Wellness and Holistic Nutrition.
     

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