What is OMM?

A principle of osteopathic medicine is that hands-on diagnosis and treatment can help patients stay healthy and recover from illness and injury more quickly. Osteopathic physicians consider a patient's overall health and lifestyle in order to treat the whole person, not just a single disease or symptom. With osteopathic manual medicine, our physicians work to restore the body’s structural integrity, which allows the body to function more efficiently, thus allowing the body to resist disease and recover from illness and injury more quickly.

Osteopathic manual medicine

Osteopathic manual medicine, or OMM, is a hands-on, noninvasive set of skills used in the evaluation and treatment of the neuro-muscular-skeletal (nerve, muscle and bone) system. Trained osteopathic physicians use their hands to diagnose and treat illness and injury. While drugs, surgery and other forms of treatment are important components of patient care, manually diagnosing and treating the patient adds a highly effective, noninvasive advantage. OMM provides an important added dimension to standard medical care.

The power of OMM

People of all ages, from infants to the elderly, from top athletes to workers with job-related injuries, can benefit from OMM. Problems that manual treatment can address include the following:

• Acute and chronic conditions unresponsive to conventional treatment, including chronic infections, conditions unresponsive to antibiotics, and neurological, gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders
• Treatment for infants for chronic infections; colic (fussy infant, indigestion); plagiocephaly (misshapen head); torticollis (twisted neck); birth trauma and failure to thrive
• Traumatic injuries such as head trauma; postconcussion syndrome; overuse syndromes; and whiplash syndromes
• Pain of the back, neck and joints; pain associated with pregnancy; headaches; temporomandibular joint dysfunction (jaw pain); sciatica; and damaged, bulging or herniated discs

Our physicians include those trained in physical and rehabilitative medicine who focus on diagnosing and treating issues by restoring maximum function lost through injury, illness or disabling conditions. They also may utilize prolotherapy and trigger point injections, minimally invasive procedures that are designed to eliminate chronic pain and restore strength by helping the body increase blood flow to damaged connective tissue.

Training tomorrow’s clinicians

Because we are affiliated with a medical school, our clinicians are more than just providers; they are mentors, teachers and researchers who are training the next generation of highly competent, compassionate health care professionals. You will benefit from our clinicians’ and students’ shared expertise, dedication to patient-centered care and commitment to cutting-edge health education.

If you like the results of your OMM treatment and want to be seen in our clinic, or would like to learn more, please call 515-271-1722.