chiropractics/osteopathy

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RyJay

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Can anyone explain the main differences between osteopathic medicine and chiropractics. I know that the scope of their practice is extremely different, but I am a little unsure about the differnces concerning their techniques (ie OMM) as well as their philosophy of treatment.

By the way, I am new to this forum and am very impressed. I have learned a lot from reading through previous posted messages
Thanks again.


[This message has been edited by RyJay (edited May 31, 1999).]

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In terms of philosophy, it will differ depending on who you ask. Chiropractic beliefs range from manipulation as the cure-all for everything to manipulation only for musculoskeletal problems, and anywhere in between. Osteopathic medicine, interestingly, also has adherents that fall into these same ranges, although from what I've seen most tend to be more conservative(i.e., more musculoskeletal focused).

That said, the techniques are pretty much the same. The main difference is that chiropractic tends to be more heavily focused on high velocity techniques, whereas osteopathy tends to be a bit more broad. However, you will find chiropractors that use what are traditionally considered to be osteopathic techniques.
Ultimately, practitioners tend to use whatever technique seems to work best for them, regardless of where it came from.
I hope this is helpful.
 
just an odd observation:

I attend CCOM. Down the street from us is NCC (National College of Chiropractic). They have a four year program and are one of a few DC schools pushing for full practice rights. In this state, chiropractors are legally able to advertise as chiropractic physicians. Their school has a department of family medicine. They take physiology, anatomy (with dissection of cadavers), pathology and all in all have a similarly structured (though watered down) curriculum to your average med school.

In their bookstore, i observed (whilst on a clandestine reconaisance mission) that they have MORE books on omm than our CCOM bookstore does. They have ones there that I have never seen at our school.

Odd world isn't it.

I have talked to a few of their students and found that for the most part their anatomical descriptive lexicon is quite different from ours. Plus (or rather minus) they don't do any cranial.

 
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