Naprapath

Briefly explain what you do for a living. 

I work as a naprapath, so I treat the injuries and problems of the musculoskeletal system using manual medicine methods. I use, for example, manual and exercise therapy and physical treatments. Typical problems include pain in the back, neck-shoulder region and joints as well as limited movement. 

How have you ended up in the profession of your choice? 

I have danced all my life, both competitive ballroom dancing and Latin dance. During my competitive career, I suffered from minor back and foot problems. I went to see a naprapath and got help for my problems. The positive experiences of the treatments inspired me to apply to study naprapahty, and I haven’t regretted it one bit.

Describe your typical working day or week. 

The working day of a naprapath consists of appointments with customers to examine ailments and provide various treatments. In addition to my work as a naprapath, I direct dance. I spend the morning on office work and planning dance lessons and meet customers in the afternoon and evening.

At the start of every meeting, I interview the customer. Then, I perform treatments using manual and physical methods. Naprapaths also have the right and competence to perform manipulation treatments safely. This is one of the ways how naprapathy differs from physiotherapy. Finally, I give home exercises to further help with the ailment. A typical customer is a working-age person who suffers from back pain, problems in the neck-shoulder region and headache. I also often treat problems with masticatory muscles related to headaches.

What kind of work environment or working hours do you have? 

I have my own treatment room, and I also work in the premises of Terveystalo Fysio and business clients. For some of the older customers, I do home visits. At Terveystalo, I can use their gym with rehabilitation customers.

I meet customers on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Sometimes I do most of the work in the morning, sometimes in the evening. Sometimes I have appointments at Terveystalo on Saturdays.

What kind of competence or qualities are required in the profession? 

As a naprapath, you must enjoy working with people. Good physical condition is also useful. Almost all naprapaths are entrepreneurs, so the profession requires an entrepreneurial spirit almost without exception. A logical and solution-oriented approach also helps in nursing, as the problems of customers are often the sum of many factors. However, you are never complete as a naprapath, so you must continuously develop and maintain your professional skills.

What is the best thing about your profession? 

The customers, colleagues and work communities. It's great that I can help people who haven't found the solutions to their musculoskeletal problems elsewhere. Multi-professional cooperation and training events with different health care professionals develop my professional skills. Choosing your own working hours is also great.

What are the downsides of the profession or what seems challenging? 

The fact that no paid work is available for naprapaths, for example in public health care, even though studies have proved the benefits and cost-effectiveness of naprapathy. Naprapath is also a protected occupational title registered by Valvira, and our work falls within the scope of legislation governing health care and the Finnish Patient Injuries Act.

At a personal level, ensuring sufficient rest and recovery is a challenge, as you get so invested in the meaningful work.

What would you tell a person considering the profession of a Naprapath? 

If you have the desire to work with people and are interested in rehabilitating musculoskeletal disorders, choose naprapathy. The profession gives you access to versatile tools for musculoskeletal rehabilitation, differential diagnostics and pain management. Naprapaths may focus on sports physiology, for example, and many work as part of a coaching and rehabilitation team for athletes.

The naprapath studies are demanding, and they require perseverance and determination. Massage therapy studies can be helpful in the early stages. On the other hand, the demanding studies guarantee a high level of professional knowledge and skills when graduating.

How do you see the future of your profession? 

The professional circle of naprapaths is relatively small compared to other occupational groups in Finland. I believe that the position of naprapaths as rehabilitation professionals will improve in the future. People's awareness is increasing, and inequalities among rehabilitation professionals have already been addressed, for example in terms of Kela reimbursements. According to the Finnish Centre for Pensions, musculoskeletal disorders are the most common reason for retiring on a disability pension in Finland, so there will also be plenty of work for naprapaths in the future.