I apologize for my ignorance but I have a question. Why are people skeptical about OMM when it seems to me a lot like physical therapy? Or are people skeptical of that field as well, I just don't know? Not trying to start anything, just wondering because it almost seemed to me that a DO = MD + PT (although I would imagine that PTs get a lot more training in that area considering that it is the primary focus of their career field).
That is what we're debating now. I'm sorry, if you don't have any knowledge of Osteopathy it might have gone over your head. There are good and bad parts to OMM. A lot of it is proven, and those things are incorporated into every day practice with Physical Therapists, Athletic Trainers, or Sports Medicine physicians, they just go by different names. However, there are unproven parts to it that are at best theoretical and have no studies to prove they are of any medical benefit or sensitive/specific to even rule out/in any underlying pathology which they claim to be able to help diagnose. Furthermore, another complaint with OMM is that even if something
can help, we might not see the patient long enough or truly be able to quantify its impact given the subjective nature of it. Many parts of it that are proven are utilized in PT practices where they can objectively quantify patient's Range of Motion, Flexibility, Strength, (and pain, although this is also subjective).
In my experience and through my observations, there are two Osteopathic Principles that are consistently attacked, and those are the concepts of "Chapman's Points" and "Cranial OMM". Both of these, we have no way of truly measuring and therefore we have no way to prove they truly exist or function in the way we think they do. And those who utilize them swear by it, and others just dismiss it entirely. As someone who enjoys OMM and doesn't think it takes away from my medical knowledge, but rather, assists in my understanding of anatomy, I like to defend OMM, however Chapmans and Cranial are always the big Elephant in the room. For this reason, I wish the curriculum would remove these, or at most give a one tiny little hour long lecture on them with a worksheet of where they are and end it right there. However, they are being added to every COMLEX question and touted as true science. As someone who likes OMM, I cannot defend these concepts and principles, and it therefore is frustrating, so I'd rather see them gone. However, it is annoying when people think they are above OMM or try to discredit it solely based on these two principles while actively turning a blind eye to the various other techniques which I have found to be useful in my personal life as an athlete, and millions of others have gained benefit from through various providers.
I think this animosity toward OMM also is fueled by the fact that we are already hyper-sensitive about pseudoscience in today's day and age of Anti-Vaxxers, people who are in love with their Chiropractors (Who are also anti-vaxxers), people who want to take "Natural pills" and therefore opt to go to Naturopaths over their PCPs, and other weird non-proven things that actually are more harmful than good but people are too blind to notice because it's "Organic and all natural, it must be healthy!". This is why idiots with "Hypothyroidism" go and get "Armor Thyroid" because it's "All-natural" but in actuality can cause heart problems due to supra-therapeutic levels of thyroid hormone because it is not correctly metabolized and utilized in the body the same way real Thyroid Hormone is, which Levothyroxine does behave like.
So, unfortunately, I think everything has it's purpose and OMM has its role in certain facets of medicine with certain patients, but this anti-pseudoscience culture doesn't give OMM a chance and they champion the most pseudo-science components of it to try and discredit the whole field.
Also, many DO's hate OMM because it is their "Tax" that reminds them they didn't get into MD schools. And as someone who originally wanted to go to DPT school but then wanted to go to medical school once they found out what DO was, I was more willing than most to give OMM a chance, and I enjoy the hands on time it gives with people. Whether it be placebo or not, patient's will appreciate it too. So many elderly people tell me "No one touches patient's anymore!" and this saddens them, and I agree, I think there's a lot more to medicine than just chasing numbers, which we obviously have to do, but happier people are healthier people, and maintaining strong connections and bonds is one of the easiest ways to be happy, and ultimately healthy, and if OMM helps with that, then by all means I'll use it.
point to me on the doll where the meanie Chapman touched you. Let's talk about it.
