Osteopathic Manipulation Treatment
Doctors of osteopathy (DOs) literally take a hands-on approach to musculoskeletal disorders. Osteopathic manipulation treatment (OMT) is used to help correct structural imbalances in your body, improve circulation and relieve pain.
Emphasizing a Whole-Person Approach
Good health is about more than the absence of disease, and Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, or DOs, are trained to treat patients as whole people, believing that the best healthcare means treating body, mind and spirit. We don’t just treat patients, we treat people.
What to know about osteopathic manipulative therapy.
Osteopathic manipulative therapy (OMT) is a treatment method for a number of conditions. OMT is a hands-on technique that involves moving and manipulating a person’s muscles and joints to help diagnose, prevent, and treat a wide range of health conditions. DOs also use OMT to diagnose and prevent disease and help your body function better.
Using several OMT techniques, DOs apply gentle pressure to manipulate the muscles, soft tissues and joints. The treatment encourages your body to heal itself by ensuring that your bones and muscles are aligned and balanced properly.
Who Benefits from OMT?
OMT is a treatment option for chronic pain relating to many different causes. People with lower back pain or neck pain are the people most likely to require OMT. However, many people (babies, children, and adults) receive OMT for a wide and varied range of medical conditions.
Pregnant people can also benefit from OMT. A DO can use OMT to help these individuals deal with pelvic and lower back pain, both during and after their pregnancy. OMT can also help infants who have colic.
Additionally, Osteopathy has been shown to reduce sleeplessness and insomnia resulting from chronic pain.
What happens during a visit?
When receiving OMT, a person may stand, sit, or lie on an examination table. The DO will then use various techniques to manipulate the person’s body. The person’s specific symptoms and needs will determine which techniques the DO uses.
Common techniques that the DO may use include:
- Massage: The DO may use different types of massage to relax a person’s muscles.
- Stretching: They may use this approach to ease stiff joints.
- Articulation: This technique involves moving a person’s joints through their natural range of motion.
- High velocity thrusts: The DO might make short, sharp movements of parts of the person’s body. These movements may cause a clicking noise.
The aims of these techniques include:
- reducing pain
- improving the range of movement
- encouraging blood flow
Some of the techniques that OMT involves are similar to those that a chiropractor, physical therapist, or massage therapist may use. However, DOs are able to
What does OMT treat?
Osteopathic manipulative therapy treats conditions that affect every system in the body, including the musculoskeletal system, digestive system, nervous system and immune system. By realigning the body and restoring balance to bones and muscles, OMT allows your entire body to work better as a whole. OMT can treat many conditions, including:
- Breathing issues like asthma and sinus infections.
- Bowel issues, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and constipation.
- Chronic pain, including fibromyalgia, arthritis, menstrual pain and migraines.
- Musculoskeletal problems like back and neck pain, joint pain and carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Problems associated with pregnancy, such as swelling (edema), insomnia and sciatica.
- Sports injuries and repetitive stress injuries.
By helping restore your structural imbalance, OMT improves nerve and blood circulation to the bodily organ involved – which can help improve health of that organ.
Why you should try OMT
Today’s increasingly sedentary lifestyle means that the average American will spend over 10.5 hours per day in front of a screen. This can lead to poor posture and musculoskeletal problems. A DO can help prevent problems by pinpointing potential sources of referred pain in good time.
Osteopathic treatments can positively impact the nervous, circulatory, and lymphatic systems, to improve body function and overall health.
Meet Our Osteopathic Providers
Rhonda Edison
DO, CHCW Ellensburg
I aspire to provide my best for faculty, residents and patients by diligently working with the latest advances in medicine, business and self-care.
Carlin Miller
DO, CWFM Yakima
I believe that one of the most important factors in medicine is being willing to listen. Many times answers to my questions come automatically if I just sit and let my patients talk.
EDWARD LETELLIER
DO, CHCW Ellensburg
I chose CWFM because as an organization it provides a supportive environment not only for its patients but also the resident staff. ..
JACOB MATHESON
DO, CHCW Ellensburg
I want to eventually end up in a small Pacific Northwest town and so I wanted to train in one…
ALLISON BREDA
DO, CWFM Yakima
I aspire to always remember the patient as a whole – especially when it comes to human behavior, the importance of motivation and cooperation, and the interconnectedness of mental and physical health.
NICHOLAS COLIN
DO, CWFM Yakima
Initially, I chose Yakima for my medical studies because it was close to home (Portland) and a beautiful area. I have been fortunate over these past four years to get to learn about and be involved in this beautiful community
SARAH COOK
DO, CWFM Yakima
I believe thoughtful, thorough healthcare is a commodity that should be attainable to everyone.
SABINA HOCHROTH
DO, CWFM Yakima
Bio Coming Soon
BROOKE STEADMAN
DO, CWFM Yakima
I love that family medicine provides the ability to have continuity of care with patients. This continuity allows for relationships to be built and for a partnership to develop.
SHRESHTA WADHWA
DO, CWFM Yakima
My years of medical training, working as a teacher for special needs children and volunteering at a hospice center have guided my patient care philosophy.
NINGYI ZHENG
DO, CWFM Yakima
In my mind, taking care of a patient involves getting to know someone deeper and building enough trust in order to start peeling back the ‘layers of the onion.’ In other words, I enjoy understanding where a patient is coming from.
David Carlson
DO, Yakima Pediatrics
Proudly serving with CHCW since August 03, 2009. Special medical interests in developmental pediatrics, and infectious diseases