One of the two schools of medicine in the United States, the Doctor of Osteopathy or DO has the similar credentials of an Allopathic Doctor or MD, but a minimum of 200 hours of hands on training in physical diagnosis and treatment before they graduate medical school.
Frustrated with the traditional medicine of the time, the founder of Osteopathic Medicine Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, developed a method of diagnosis and treatment based of the follow tenants:
The body is a unit
The body is able to heal itself
Structure and function are related at all levels
Rational treatment of a person should be guided by the above principals
Therefore, it can be summarized that if the barriers for disease are removed through proper anatomic alignment, the body has the ability fix itself.
What is Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine?
Neuromusculoskeletal medicine is a subspeciality of Osteopathic Medicine that focuses on the interaction of the nerves, muscles, and bones and how they can contribute to problems within the body and it’s inherent regulatory mechanisms.
We use Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine to assess for any asymmetry or inequalities that exist within a given individual, and work with the patient to correct them.
This can involve gentle, indirect techniques such as Myofascial Release or Counterstrain, or more aggressive techniques such as Muscle energy and High Velocity Low Amplitude (HVLA) techniques.
At each visit, you will meet with a physician who will determine the correct treatment course and level of treatment needed. Treatment can then be performed at the same visit if indicated.
Sometime, additional testing such as blood work or x-rays may be needed before such treatments can begin.
What is Prolotherapy?
Proliferative Therapy (Prolotherapy) is a type of treatment that utilizes the body’s inherent ability to heal itself. It does this by recruiting the healing mechanisms already in place to put down new tissue within those structures treated.
It does this by recruiting helper cells through the body’s inflammatory response, which results in the deposition of new collagen.
Modern prolotherapy was first defined by Dr. Earl Gedney, who was an Osteopathic surgeon who got his thumb caught on an operating room door. As a result, he was unable to hold a scalpel, until he came across this therapy that doctors were using to reduce hernias with irritating solutions. He tried this on his thumb, and after a period of a few months he was able to operate again.
