Osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) involves the use of manual medical treatment to restore the body’s natural functioning. OMM can relieve pain, restore function and health, and help prevent further disease and/or damage. BAO physicians combine manual treatment with the best of Western and complementary medicines. A century of osteopathic research has shown that:
- OMM is effective in infants who have chronic ear infections, colic, and trouble feeding.
- OMM reduces labor time by half, and reduces complications for mom and baby.
- Eighty eight percent of all newborns, have dysfunction caused by the stresses of pregnancy and childbirth.
- OMM improves neurologic development in children whether or not they have a neurological problem for which they have been treated.
- OMM improves oxygen delivery to tissues and reduces fluid congestion in the chest for patients recovering from open-heart surgery.
- OMM has been shown to change brain-wave patterns in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
- OMM improves heart rhythms measured by EKG, lowers blood pressure and improves the heart muscle’s ability to recover from damage.
- OMM has been effective in treating depression, and improves the quality of life of multiple sclerosis patients.
How is structure involved in health and disease?
The body needs the nervous and circulatory systems to work well in order for everything else to be healthy. Biomechanical distortions (called somatic dysfunction) can interfere with nerve signals and blood supply. With distorted nerve signals and inadequate blood supply, our bodies weaken, muscles hurt, and organs function poorly. This is how acute and chronic disease begins. Somatic dysfunction causes disease and injury in the body, and severely limits our ability to heal.
How does osteopathy help you stay well?
Somatic dysfunctions are present in everyone and, unless treated, accumulate with time. Birth trauma, disease, surgery, injuries, dental procedures, repetitive strain and overuse all leave their cumulative effects. This distorts the body’s natural defenses; organs slowly deteriorate and chronic disease develops. Medicines cannot remove these distortions, nor will most surgery. Osteopaths can use their skills to find these dysfunctions and use OMM to gently reduce or remove their destructive influence.