What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM), or Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine is a form of hands-on diagnostic and therapeutic practice provided by doctors of osteopathy, or DO’s. In the United States, DO’s are fully trained and licensed physicians, being able to prescribe drugs and perform surgery. In the same way as their allopathic counterparts, or MD’s, DO’s attend four years of a fully accredited medical school followed by a post-graduate training in a specialty of their choice. Many people who experience a hospital stay, get a surgical procedure done, or go to see their obstetrician or pediatrician or internist or family practitioner are not aware that their physician is an MD or a DO.

The difference between the two types of physicians in our country is the philosophy behind osteopathic medicine and the training DOs receive in osteopathic manipulative medicine.

As its founder, Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, a frontier doctor working in Missouri in the 19th century, became increasingly weary of the way medicine was practiced in his day. In allopathic medicine, there seemed to be mainly a focus on the disease and its symptoms alone and not on the patient as a whole. The philosophy of osteopathic medicine is based on the idea that

there is a core connection between structure and function in the body, each affecting the other; and more importantly, that the body possesses an inherent ability to heal itself and to maintain homeostasis, or total balance. Osteopathic physicians use a hands-on approach to correct structural or anatomic imbalances to improve function and aid in healing. Instead of merely suppressing symptoms, OMM targets the anatomical sources of disease, resulting in decreased pain, improved mobility, and a sense of well-being.

Osteopathic manipulative medicine consists of various types of techniques, including muscle energy, myofascial release, and craniosacral therapy, and can benefit almost any condition to some extent. It is designed to diagnose and treat patients with acute problems such as motor vehicle accidents and I-just-injured-myself-while-surfing-pain to those with very chronic conditions such as MS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraine and other types of headache, TMJ disorders, and vertigo. It is also very effective in the obstetric and pediatric populations, relieving pregnancy-induced low back and joint pain, and being used as adjunct treatment for otitis media, birth trauma, colic, cerebral palsy, ADHD, Down syndrome, plagiocephaly, torticollis, and other disorders.

General Health and Wellness

• General Internal Medicine and Pediatrics
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Chronic Medical Conditions

• Hypertension
• Integrative Cancer Support
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• Sinusitis
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Pain Management

• Fibromyalgia
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OB/GYN

• Menopausal Symptoms
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Pediatrics

• Otitis Media
• Torticollis
• Developmental Delay
• Birth Trauma
• Asthma
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• Orthopedic Problems

Psychiatric

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Sports Performance

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