By Wyatt Myers
Medically Reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH
Last Updated: November 10, 2011
According to the American Osteopathic Association, osteopathic medicine focuses on the individual as a whole, rather than just treating specific symptoms. And while conventional medicine may rely on pain medication and surgery to treat pain, the osteopathic approach to chronic pain is a little different. One of the key tools in the osteopath’s arsenal is osteopathic manipulative treatment.
Osteopathic manipulative treatment itself is a blanket term that covers a wide array of hands-on, body manipulation therapies that are used by osteopaths to treat chronic pain. “These treatments can range from a simple myofascial release, which is similar to deep tissue massage, to high-velocity, low-amplitude procedures, which are similar to chiropractic manipulation,” says Lam Nguyen, DO, an osteopath with Tulsa Pain Consultants in Oklahoma.
Other specialized osteopathic therapies include Still’s techniques, strain-counterstrain, and craniosacral rhythm therapy. These treatments can help with generalized myofascial pain, sprain and strain, as well as joint pain. "They are mainly used to help with musculoskeletal imbalances and help by rebalancing the muscles, as well as realigning the various joints if needed,” says Dr. Nguyen.
Osteopathic manipulative treatment may be just one facet of an osteopath’s whole-body approach to treat pain. “This treatment is often used in combination with prescription medication, proper nutrition, patient education, exercise, or any other ‘traditional’ approach toward improving a person’s health,” says Robert I. Danoff, DO, a Philadelphia-based osteopathic family physician and spokesperson for the American Osteopathic Association’s (AOA) “Break Through Your Pain” public awareness campaign. “An osteopathic physician works with a patient to come up with a treatment plan that is best for them.”
Osteopathy for Chronic Pain: What the Research Says
Very little research has been done specifically on osteopathic manipulative treatment, but what's out there shows positive results. One recent study examined the use of osteopathic manipulative treatment on 144 women with lower back pain in their third trimester of pregnancy. The women in the group that received osteopathic manipulative treatment experienced less back pain.
Another recent study looked at the effects of osteopathic manipulative treatment on migraines in 42 women. Half received five osteopathic manipulative treatment sessions over the course of 10 weeks, and the other half received no treatment. The women who received the osteopathic treatment experienced a significant decrease in migraine pain.
Dr. Nguyen says that several other studies have also shown the benefits of osteopathic manipulative treatment. “One published by the New England Journal of Medicine found that osteopathic manual care and standard medical care had similar clinical results for pain, but the use of medication was much less in the osteopathically treated group,” he says. “A study in Europe called ROMANS, which was a multicenter randomized study, found that osteopathy improved short-term physical and long-term psychological outcomes at little extra cost. So although limited, the studies have shown that OMT can be beneficial.”
One study explored the reasons that osteopathic manipulative treatment might be effective. The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look at the backs of people with low back pain before and after they received osteopathic manipulative treatment. The MRIs showed that the treatment helped to bring back muscles into alignment.
