Membership of various levels is open to all individuals with a Doctor of Naprapathy (D.N.) degree and/or a state license to practice Naprapathy, along with very special rates for Naprapathic students and interns, members of the general public and/or allied professionals who wish to support the Naprapathic profession. Joining the A.N.A. automatically makes you eligible for membership in an approved state organization.

Naprapathic Medicine is a specialized system of health care that employs hands-on manual medicine, nutritional counseling and a wide varienty of therapeutic modalities. Naprapathy focuses on conditions caused by contracted, injured, spasmed, bruised, and/or otherwise impaired myofascial and connective tissue.

Connective tissue supports and contains all of the integral structures of the entire body, including the tissue surrounding the spinal column and spinal cord, it envelopes muscles, organs, joints and all of the articulations of the body. This specialized tissue includes ligaments, tendons, fascia, inter-vertebral discs, and cartilage of which all can develop into a pathologic condition in need of treatment. Naprapaths have a very unique and healthful way to address these problems.

Connective tissue conditions treated by Naprapathic care can be characterized by abnormally rigid and/or contracted (strained) ligaments, tendons and the related muscles and fascia in many areas of the body. Conditions may exist where this contracted tissue may impede and create interference with the normal action of nerve pathways, in addition to affecting the proper circulation of blood and lymph. When this occurs, naprapathy contends that the result  can be pain, inflammation, and restriction of normal movement of the affected area of the body and negatively affect vessels passing through these tissues.

Causes of these types of connective tissue problems may arise from traumatic injury - including car accidents, sports injuries, and falls. It is also known to result from repetitive motion syndromes, such as work-related computer or machine use, heavy lifting and also improper posture and other lifestyle factors.

Board Certified and Licensed Naprapaths, who are also unoffically referred to as Neuromyologists, can evaluate and treat patients with a referral from your MD, DO, DC, or DPM. They may also treat a patient based on their own evaluation without a referral but will defer to a physician when a diagnosis has been made.

Doctors of Naprapathic Medicine often use a three-fold strategy in the Naprapathic treatment of connective tissue disorders.

   
• Naprapathic Manual Medicine: involves hands-on (gentle) connective tissue manipulation to the spine, joints and articulations of the body.

• Nutritional Counseling: Recommendations for holistic dietary changes, food supplementation (as through the use of herbs, vitamins and minerals) to assist the body in achieving optimal health.

• Therapeutic Modalities: The use of the effective properties of physical measures of heat, cold, light, water, radiant energy, electricity, sound, air and assistive devices for the purpose of preventing, correcting or alleviating a physical disability. Modalities may include ultrasound, electric stimulation and/or photobiostimulation (also known as low-level laser or cold laser therapy).

Some common musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders successfully treated through Naprapathic Medicine include:

• Back Pain
• Neck Pain
• Hip Pain
• Leg Pain
• Sciatica
• Neuropathy
• Tension Headaches
• Migraine Headaches
• Disc Herniation
• Tennis Elbow
• Golfer's Elbow
• Shoulder Pain
• Rotator Cuff Injuries
• Strains
• Sprains
• TMJ
• Knee pain
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Arthritis
• Plantar fasciitis
• Bursitis and more