Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine

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Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (abbreviated as OMM) is a manual modality of treatment used to improve the impaired or altered function of the musculo-skeletal system (somatic dysfunction). With roots in ancient Greek "frictions," manual manipulation has long been a part of health care. Today's OMM was first practiced by Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., the founder of modern osteopathic medicine. In the United States, its country of origin, OMM is used by Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.s) along with surgery and medication in treatment of patients. Outside the United States, practitioners of osteopathy (who may have the qualification of D.O. as a Diploma of Osteopathy, but do not necessarily have the same medical training as American-trained D.O.s) generally limit their scope to manual manipulation.

There are different techniques applied to the musculoskeletal system as OMM. These techniques can be applied to the joints, their surrounding soft tissues, muscles and fasciae.

Some techniques used in OMM are:

• Balanced ligamentous tension (BLT)
• Counterstrain
• Cranial osteopathy
• High Velocity Low Amplitude Thrust (HVLAT)
• Joint mobilization - articulatory techniques
• Lymphatic Pump
• Muscle Energy Technique (MET)
• Myofascial Release
• Neuromuscular therapy, trigger point therapy or myodysneuric point therapy
• Soft Tissue Technique
• Visceral manipulation

When combined as Osteopathic Manual Medicine, these forms of treatment allow the therapist to restore the normal contact within the joint and with other structures. This eliminates muscular spasms and tensions in the ligaments, thereby restoring complete mobility to the joint. It is probably the comprehensive and eclectic style of OMM that distinguishes it most from that employed by most other manual therapists. The immediate goal of musculoskeletal manipulation is to restore maximal, pain-free movement of the musculoskeletal system in postural balance.

[edit] See also

• Joint manipulation
• Spinal adjustment
• Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment Blog - Blog has many articles on OMT and is updated weekly.

[edit] Sources

• Gevitz, Norman; Grant, U. S. (2004). The D.O.s (2nd ed.). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-7834-9.
• Ward, Robert C. et al; Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincot Williams and Wilkins. ISBN 0-7817-3497-5.