What Is OMT?
Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) is a recognized form of medicine that, in addition to traditional medicine, uses manipulative treatment of the skeleton and soft tissues of the body.
OMT has been used for over a century to treat patients for a variety of illnesses and painful conditions such as arthritis of the back and other joints, respiratory infections, urinary incontinence, fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, “pinched nerves”, herniated disks, as well as ear infections and colic in infants and children. OMT is a non-invasive way to reduce the need/use of medications for such conditions and to help the body recover from acute illness.
An osteopathic physician is a licensed physician, who in addition to performing diagnostic testing, can prescribe medication and undergoes post graduate training including hospital training. To maintain their license they are required to obtain the same number of continuing education hours as allopathic physicians. However, D.O.s, also known as Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, get additional training in osteopathic manipulative treatment - a non-invasive manner of treating injury and disease that can be augmented by procedures and pharmaceuticals if necessary.
Cranial treatment (also known as Craniosacral) is a gentle form of manipulative treatment where the practitioner gently works with the spine and skull, specifically its cranial sutures and fascia. The therapeutic goal is to relieve compression in the sutures and tension/restrictions in the fascia and membranes surrounding the nerves and blood vessels of the head. Cranial treatments are very effective at decreasing the intensity and frequency of headaches (including migraines), diminishing TMJ, neck, back, shoulder and pelvic pain, as well as improving symptoms related to closed head injuries. Cranial OMT can be a very powerful tool in the treatment of infants and children. Colicky infants have improved in as little as 1 or 2 Cranial treatments! Other conditions in which infants and children respond well are plagiocephaly (funny shaped heads), otits media (ear infections), head/face pain related to orthodontics (braces and retainers), scoliosis and sports injuries.