Yeah...I get the same reaction from most of my OMM department and colleagues in the OMM world.
Needless to say I am not well liked among the "cranialites" as I have dubbed them. And I prefer not to treat "Craniopaths" (another one of my words).
Luckily my Department Chair supports me and doesnt allow me to be ostracized in the OMM community for my lack of belief and faith in cranial.
I am a very structurally oriented person when it comes to OMT. If you cannot show me the anatomy, physiology and understand the biochemical/biomechanical workings then Im not going to even attempt to treat a patient with that technique. Basically if YOU dont understand what is happening and YOU are the one "treating" the patient...well, in my opinion that borders on malpractice and fraud.
I dont like to hear "I dont know how or why it works but patients seem to get better so thats why I do it."
That doesnt sit well with me and it shouldnt sit well with any physician.
Now, the problem is that when people hear "OMM" they think of the musculoskeletal component but they also cannot get past lumping cranial in there as well. It tears at the fabric of what OMM really is.
Its like talking about baseball. You can talk all you want about the great things associated with the game but sooner or later someone will say "steroids" and suddenly the credibility of the entire sport goes out the window.
OMM was never meant as a mystical power or faith. It was developed as a pure musculoskeletal treatment modality and, in my humble OMM Fellow opinion, should remain as such.
