Osteopathic physicians (DOs) diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions using osteopathic manipulative medicine, or OMM: a set of hands-on techniques that apply pressure, resistance, and movement to any part of the body. Used well, OMM can:

• Balance muscle tension
• Improve mobility and range of motion
• Improve circulation
• Restore normal function
• Support the body’s own capacity to heal

When one part of the body is injured or ill, the rest of the body compensates. Nearly eighty organs are working in concert to keep you alive, and the skeletal system depends on the digestive system for the nutrients that build bone, just as the heart depends on the nervous system for its rhythm. That is why treatment here does not stop at the part that hurts.

How OMM Works

Restriction and tightness in muscle and nerve can both cause and result from other health problems. DOs train in more than forty distinct techniques to address this. The most commonly used include:

• Soft tissue technique: massaging or stretching soft tissue to improve blood flow and relieve pain.
• Muscle energy technique: a push-and-pull approach in which you move a muscle one direction while the physician provides resistance in the other.
• Myofascial release: firm but gentle pressure that releases tension in the fascia surrounding bone, muscle, and organ.
• Cranial technique: light pressure applied to the bones of the skull, used particularly with infants and with patients who need a gentler approach.

How This Differs From Chiropractic Care

DOs and chiropractors share some techniques, and the two professions are genuinely different in scope.

• OMM treats more than joints. It is used to prevent and treat concerns affecting any part of the body, so a headache may be addressed through the neck, jaw, blood vessels, or fascia rather than the head alone.
• Most chiropractic practice centers on the spine, frequently using thrust techniques. DOs use thrust occasionally and are trained in many other direct and indirect methods.
• OMM is practiced by physicians. Like MDs, DOs complete medical school and residency, and can order and interpret testing, prescribe medication, and provide full primary care.

Dr. Dalton has a few additional tools available to him, and there are patients his skill set cannot reach whom a chiropractor can. In those cases he refers, and has watched it work. The point is that you get better.

Conditions Commonly Treated

OMM is most established for muscle and joint pain. Many patients also find it eases symptoms associated with:

• Headaches and migraines
• Neck, back, and joint pain
• Carpal tunnel syndrome and overuse injuries such as tennis elbow
• Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ)
• Sinus problems and asthma
• Menstrual cramps
• Insomnia
• Difficulty latching in newborns, and some cases of infant plagiocephaly

OMM can improve associated symptoms alongside other treatment, including physical therapy, medication, or surgery.

Who Can Receive OMM

Patients of any age, from infants struggling to breastfeed through to adults managing heart failure. Pressure and technique are adjusted to the person: a patient with osteoporosis is treated far more gently than a high school athlete recovering from tendonitis.

Dr. Dalton has worked with a various acuity of injuries ranging from fractures, surgeries, ICU care, to healthy people. Anybody can receive OMM! You may choose to let any of your injuries heal or Dr. Dalton can complement the care you are already receiving and improve your healing process.

What To Expect At An Appointment

An OMM visit resembles a primary care visit, and usually takes longer. Your physician will take a history, perform a physical exam of nerves, muscles, and bones, and then apply stretching, gentle pressure, or resistance to the relevant areas, which may include the neck, back, arms, legs, or head.

Treatment often begins somewhere other than the site of your discomfort. Neck pain frequently originates elsewhere, and the exam follows the cause rather than the complaint. Some patients feel relief immediately. Others notice change gradually over several visits. Your physician will set the treatment interval based on your condition and how your body responds.

Side effects are minimal and typically limited to temporary soreness, similar to the day after new exercise.

Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine

Dr. Dalton completed residency training in neuromusculoskeletal medicine (NMM) in addition to family medicine. NMM is a recognized osteopathic specialty focused on the relationship between your health and your nerves, muscles, bones, skull, and spine.

Every DO learns the fundamentals of osteopathic manipulative treatment in medical school. A physician who then completes an NMM residency has a considerably deeper command of applying it across a wide range of conditions, from acid reflux to arthritis to depression.

Conditions addressed through NMM

• Chronic pain, including back and neck pain, tension and migraine headaches, and fibromyalgia
• Musculoskeletal conditions, including osteoporosis, arthritis, sciatica, muscle strains, and ligament sprains
• Digestive conditions, including reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease
• Respiratory conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Pain following injury, surgery, or pregnancy

Techniques used

• Myofascial release: releasing tightness in the connective tissue surrounding muscles, organs, and joints.
• Soft tissue massage: therapeutic massage to release muscle tension.
• Strain and counterstrain: a gentle positional technique using your own involvement to resolve problems such as muscle spasm.
• Craniosacral technique: light contact at the skull, facial bones, spine, and pelvis to improve cerebrospinal fluid flow and release tension.

Where manipulation alone is not enough, medication and other treatment are used, and referral is made when a condition calls for it.