OMM Table Purchase

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DrNakMuay4

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Unknowing OMS1 here...I have noticed that some students are purchasing cheap OMM tables to have in their apartments. Does this seem necessary? Or just overzealous?

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Unknowing OS1 here...I have noticed that some students are purchasing cheap OMM tables to have in their apartments. Does this seem necessary? Or just overzealous?
Don’t. Practice at school it’s a massive waste. Who are you even going to practice on? It’s extremely overzealous. My school has tables literally everywhere on campus plus the OMM lab we all use to cram for exams
 
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Don’t unless it’s for massages
 
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Completely useless unless you plan on getting it to practice/impress/suck up to your significant other.
 
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Good for the occasional 'OMT and Chill,' otherwise a waste of money

Suboccipital release is good enough for everything
 
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Unknowing OMS1 here...I have noticed that some students are purchasing cheap OMM tables to have in their apartments. Does this seem necessary? Or just overzealous?
I have an OMM table. One of the best purchases I’ve made. Makes it easy to cram night before a practical; your back hurts & you get free OMM in your living room.
 
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Our SOMA sold branded "OMM" tables and was able to get members a great deal, only $250 or something. Some students bought massage tables for < $100. Both went equally unused and dumped at the end of 2nd year.
 
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For those who are less informed. How is differ than a regular message table?

Also there is an article recently out with some young guy crack his own neck then had a stroke, how do you guys ensure that won’t happen? I am truly interested and intrigued.
 
For those who are less informed. How is differ than a regular message table?

Also there is an article recently out with some young guy crack his own neck then had a stroke, how do you guys ensure that won’t happen? I am truly interested and intrigued.
You don't. I like to live dangerously.




But for reals an omm table is a tremendous waste of money.
 
I was able to practice most techniques at the edge of a bed with my partner. Also, check to see if your school allows renting them for 24H at a time like mine does.
 
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For those who are less informed. How is differ than a regular message table?

Theoretically an OMM table should have a stiffer top/thinner padding.

Also there is an article recently out with some young guy crack his own neck then had a stroke, how do you guys ensure that won’t happen? I am truly interested and intrigued.

It's rare <shrug>
 
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Someone gave me a table. I've used it to give my wife massages lol
 
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I literally practice OMM for about ten minutes in the library like an hour before the practical.

That thing would have been guaranteed to collect dust if I'd bought one.
 
If you're a player, you can consider getting one. If you're in a committed relationship and your partner likes OMM, you can consider getting one. Outside of that, save your money.

As a student, all you're allowed to do is consider getting one. Anything more than that is a waste of money.
 
I had a friend who had one and we sometimes practiced at his house before exams. But I also practiced with other friends at school in the OMM room so it isn’t needed at all.

If you wanna practice on a spouse maybe?
 
Unless you love OMM and plan on doing it throughout your career, don’t waste your money on a table just to get through first and second year. My classmates and I mostly improvised with the floor, picnic tables or couches if we found ourselves studying somewhere without an OMM table and it worked out just fine.
 
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Also there is an article recently out with some young guy crack his own neck then had a stroke, how do you guys ensure that won’t happen? I am truly interested and intrigued.

I don't normally defend OMM but I read that article and saw that it was low hanging fruit for a classic DO beatdown so I'll bite this time.

I've heard of this stuff happening in olds, but in a 28yo healthy male for "stretching"? Bit of artistic license in this story...the gentleman in question hyperrotated his cervical vertebrae. Look in a netter book and see how far you need to rotate for healthy normal vertebrae to interact with the artery...The technique taught to students goes slightly beyond a point of tissue restriction within the normal range of motion and immediately stops regardless of whether a 'crack' is heard, but never to the point of hyperrotation.

Now whether this technique is safe? Maybe in experts' hands, but I wouldn't trust a student or senior resident with my neck because most can't recite from memory how much of normal cervical range of motion is due to c1 on c2. Nor would I ever use this technique in practice because a more serious concern would be a cervical osteophyte that leads to vb insufficiency. But in a 28 year old dude? Bit of a stretch.
 
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Owning an OMM table is the DO school equivalent of having a "kick me" sign on your back in middle school.
 
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For those who are less informed. How is differ than a regular message table?

Also there is an article recently out with some young guy crack his own neck then had a stroke, how do you guys ensure that won’t happen? I am truly interested and intrigued.
How do you ensure you don't die of a car accident tomorrow? Simple pure LUCK.
 
There’s going to be tons of frequently unused omm tables at your school. Mine has them in the omm lab, some study rooms, and the library. Our library even lets you check out portable omm tables for spring/summer breaks, etc.

A DO school will always make sure you have what you need to practice omm. That’s literally the only thing you can’t avoid learning at least a little no matter how hard you try not to do so.
 
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I have one. It saved me and my friends from going to the lab a few times first year. I didn't buy it though. My family had a massage table lying around in our garage, so I packed it up for school. Was having one worth 250? Absolutely not.

Was it worth 100? Possibly. I'm a lifter and overall I sleep like a *****. There were a few times where I really appreciated having my upper thoracics cracked really quickly by my housemates. Memory foam bed + lumpy couch = not great. The floor works, but the lack of give makes the thrust a bit more painful than it needs to be. A craigslist search near my area shows tables for 50-100.

Lately my SO has been having thoracic outlet syndrome. So I've been practicing first few rib HVLA. And you definitely need a table for that. (She reports relatively minimal relief w/ those techniques btw lol) Also, one of my housemates has a terrible back. We take turns massaging him on the table. It's a lot better for your back to have a table. So at least between the lot of us, if we had bought it, we would've made our money's worth. But I'm still not sure i'd recommend it otherwise.

Unless you're an OMM buff, and we have a few at my school who do practice for fun every day, it'll likely gather dust. But that's not such a big deal. It doubled as furniture when friends came over and needed a place to sit.
 
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These guys are all trying to gun you down. That table will be a lifesaver. They all have one and are just keeping it secret.


Also, great thread :thumbup:
 
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I just looked them up and they look so junky.

I was gonna make a joke but no...
 
I was able to practice most techniques at the edge of a bed with my partner. Also, check to see if your school allows renting them for 24H at a time like mine does.
Unless you love OMM and plan on doing it throughout your career, don’t waste your money on a table just to get through first and second year. My classmates and I mostly improvised with the floor, picnic tables or couches if we found ourselves studying somewhere without an OMM table and it worked out just fine.

This. I would run through the motions on my husband at home, on the couch or bed, the day before/of practical exams. It’s not firm enough for actual treatment. But I wasn’t doing that. I was just practicing positioning/hand placement/going through the motions.
 
I had an OMM table handed down from an upperclassman when I moved in. Ive used it maybe once.
 
Also there is an article recently out with some young guy crack his own neck then had a stroke, how do you guys ensure that won’t happen? I am truly interested and intrigued.

I read into another article about the same guy. He hyperextended his neck before cracking it, which is a huge No-No for cervical HVLA (the "popping" technique).
 
It really depends on your living arrangement. Where I am, there is about 20 other students from my year in my apartment complex. Having a table is super nice, especially during the week of the practicals, our OMM room is packed
 
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I just want to slap another "oh god no" onto the pile.
 
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Our school includes a table in our tuition. I would have much rather just paid $250 less.
 
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I don't normally defend OMM but I read that article and saw that it was low hanging fruit for a classic DO beatdown so I'll bite this time.

I've heard of this stuff happening in olds, but in a 28yo healthy male for "stretching"? Bit of artistic license in this story...the gentleman in question hyperrotated his cervical vertebrae. Look in a netter book and see how far you need to rotate for healthy normal vertebrae to interact with the artery...The technique taught to students goes slightly beyond a point of tissue restriction within the normal range of motion and immediately stops regardless of whether a 'crack' is heard, but never to the point of hyperrotation.

Now whether this technique is safe? Maybe in experts' hands, but I wouldn't trust a student or senior resident with my neck because most can't recite from memory how much of normal cervical range of motion is due to c1 on c2. Nor would I ever use this technique in practice because a more serious concern would be a cervical osteophyte that leads to vb insufficiency. But in a 28 year old dude? Bit of a stretch.
6000 pedestrians killed in 2017 while texting. USA Today. One guy strokes cracking his neck. Anyone afraid to text?
 
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