Why are OMM techniques so confusing?

[Eilat87]

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It's like we're purposely trying to take something super easy, and turn it into something way more complex than it needs to be.

Our way of keeping others off our prized, and treasured OMM techniques! *eyeroll

It's funny, to watch OMM videos and see even the professors are confused as they stop a technique midway to reach into their white coat pocket for their life-saving wrinkled piece of note.

For sure, they don't even know what the hell they're doing.



(Have an OSCE tomorrow, yes I'm venting.)

 

[Driftinglily11]

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[Didierdrogba]

It can be pretty confusing at times, but I've found thinking of it from a purely mechanical standpoint tends to help for most of it, except sacrum because that makes no logical sense.

Sacrum is pretty logical IMHO, try this video

[YOUTUBE]zympxaWdBIA[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Eilat87]

Sacrum is pretty logical IMHO, try this video

[YOUTUBE]zympxaWdBIA[/YOUTUBE]

You know it's bad when you need videos like these.. in order to understand it.

 

[NeuroLAX]

I love the Didactics Online videos. Makes me proud that I am a student at NSU-COM!

Most of what I've learned thus far makes sense mechanistically, so if I'm stuck on something I tend to go back to the mechanics. Diagnosis-wise I've found ribs to be the most pain in the ass to learn, which is what we're doing now. Has anyone found that placing their hands on the patient's chest covering a few segments bilaterally helps localize rib dysfunctions? I've found that going straight to assessing level by level gets me nowhere, but if I extend my area of assessment to a few segments I find it easier to pinpoint where the dysfunction might be. Rib treatment is a lot better than diagnosis, IMO, but that can be said for other topics like thoracic and lumbar.

 

[somekindof]

Because the OMM specialists need to feel like what they do is scientific, so they unnecessarily complicate simple topics to make their profession seem more respectable. Our last exam had 14 OMM written questions on it, which came from 300 powerpoint slides, 90% of which were completely useless and overly complicated. We did not need slides going into gruesome detail on the innervation and blood supplies of every nook and cranny of the vertebral bones just to teach us about back pain. They have a "chip on their shoulders" because they know that most people, including the students, don't take their BS seriously, so they try and fluff everything up.

 

[Eilat87]

Because the OMM specialists need to feel like what they do is scientific, so they unnecessarily complicate simple topics to make their profession seem more respectable. Our last exam had 14 OMM written questions on it, which came from 300 powerpoint slides, 90% of which were completely useless and overly complicated. We did not need slides going into gruesome detail on the innervation and blood supplies of every nook and cranny of the vertebral bones just to teach us about back pain. They have a "chip on their shoulders" because they know that most people, including the students, don't take their BS seriously, so they try and fluff everything up.

Ding ding ding!! We've got a winner. 👍

 

[sylvanthus]

Because the OMM specialists need to feel like what they do is scientific, so they unnecessarily complicate simple topics to make their profession seem more respectable. Our last exam had 14 OMM written questions on it, which came from 300 powerpoint slides, 90% of which were completely useless and overly complicated. We did not need slides going into gruesome detail on the innervation and blood supplies of every nook and cranny of the vertebral bones just to teach us about back pain. They have a "chip on their shoulders" because they know that most people, including the students, don't take their BS seriously, so they try and fluff everything up.

Hah we had the same types of presentations. They would essentially copy/paste anatomy lecture slides over to their own powerpoint to fluff up their lectures.

 

[Bones DO]

I rotated with a family practice guy that does OMM. On the 2nd day we had some pt's that were there specifically for OMM adjustments. Fine. First pt comes in and we do some routine ME and HVLA, and then at the end, he does this weird thing to the pt's head: He forms make-believe guns with both his hands by extending his 2nd and 3rd digit and clenching with his 1st, 4th and 5th. He then suspends both hands about 3 inches off the person's head on the posterior aspect, and points them inward toward the center of his head and just holds it there for a couple minutes. He then proceeds to tell me that this is a very powerful technique and not to attempt it with proper supervision. We were not taught this 'technique' in the first two years, and granted we got a bunch of BS with 'conventional' cranial but this takes it to the next level of insanity. Anyone else witness this kind of crap?

 

[sylvanthus]

I rotated with a family practice guy that does OMM. On the 2nd day we had some pt's that were there specifically for OMM adjustments. Fine. First pt comes in and we do some routine ME and HVLA, and then at the end, he does this weird thing to the pt's head: He forms make-believe guns with both his hands by extending his 2nd and 3rd digit and clenching with his 1st, 4th and 5th. He then suspends both hands about 3 inches off the person's head on the posterior aspect, and points them inward toward the center of his head and just holds it there for a couple minutes. He then proceeds to tell me that this is a very powerful technique and not to attempt it with proper supervision. We were not taught this 'technique' in the first two years, and granted we got a bunch of BS with 'conventional' cranial but this takes it to the next level of insanity. Anyone else witness this kind of crap?

On my OMM rotation we did cranial on EVERY patient regardless of the complaint. What was extremely amusing to me though, is that I made **** up every single time and was correct according to my preceptor every time. Ya, cranial is totally legit!

 

[sylvanthus]

Oh forgot to mention I completely made up two OMT techniques on my Step 2 PE and still passed that thing.

 

[MedicineMike]

They think that if the steps for an omm technique are complicated it = a reputable technique. But what happens is I just hate it more and more because of this

 

[Eilat87]

I rotated with a family practice guy that does OMM. On the 2nd day we had some pt's that were there specifically for OMM adjustments. Fine. First pt comes in and we do some routine ME and HVLA, and then at the end, he does this weird thing to the pt's head: He forms make-believe guns with both his hands by extending his 2nd and 3rd digit and clenching with his 1st, 4th and 5th. He then suspends both hands about 3 inches off the person's head on the posterior aspect, and points them inward toward the center of his head and just holds it there for a couple minutes. He then proceeds to tell me that this is a very powerful technique and not to attempt it with proper supervision. We were not taught this 'technique' in the first two years, and granted we got a bunch of BS with 'conventional' cranial but this takes it to the next level of insanity. Anyone else witness this kind of crap?

Don't try this at home kids.

In all honesty, if you're a good bull**** artist, then you'll be good in OMM.

There I said it.

 

[Oo Cipher oO]

I rotated with a family practice guy that does OMM. On the 2nd day we had some pt's that were there specifically for OMM adjustments. Fine. First pt comes in and we do some routine ME and HVLA, and then at the end, he does this weird thing to the pt's head: He forms make-believe guns with both his hands by extending his 2nd and 3rd digit and clenching with his 1st, 4th and 5th. He then suspends both hands about 3 inches off the person's head on the posterior aspect, and points them inward toward the center of his head and just holds it there for a couple minutes. He then proceeds to tell me that this is a very powerful technique and not to attempt it with proper supervision. We were not taught this 'technique' in the first two years, and granted we got a bunch of BS with 'conventional' cranial but this takes it to the next level of insanity. Anyone else witness this kind of crap?

Level 10 Cranial technique

 

[Didierdrogba]

It's so sad we are forced to learn unscientific BS like this. As a student DO, i can't help but to think that if the teaching of such material is not stopped, it will be doing my future career a disservice. If the osteopathic profession wants to be better recognized, cranial and chapman's points need to go.

 

[Cranial ALLDAY]

Sorry to crash the party, but I'm in the process of using cranial to treat aids, it will be great success

 

[notbobtrustme]

Sorry to crash the party, but I'm in the process of using cranial to treat aids, it will be great success

this is the funniest post on SDN.

 

[felix2929]

I rotated with a family practice guy that does OMM. On the 2nd day we had some pt's that were there specifically for OMM adjustments. Fine. First pt comes in and we do some routine ME and HVLA, and then at the end, he does this weird thing to the pt's head: He forms make-believe guns with both his hands by extending his 2nd and 3rd digit and clenching with his 1st, 4th and 5th. He then suspends both hands about 3 inches off the person's head on the posterior aspect, and points them inward toward the center of his head and just holds it there for a couple minutes. He then proceeds to tell me that this is a very powerful technique and not to attempt it with proper supervision. We were not taught this 'technique' in the first two years, and granted we got a bunch of BS with 'conventional' cranial but this takes it to the next level of insanity. Anyone else witness this kind of crap?

I sure hope this guy isnt practicing in Maryland.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/02/boy-suspended-for-making-_n_2397946.html
I can only imagine what the punishment for this make believe hand gun type crime might be

 

[Textbookversion]

Sorry to crash the party, but I'm in the process of using cranial to treat aids, it will be great success

win

 

[se20001984]

Because the OMM specialists need to feel like what they do is scientific, so they unnecessarily complicate simple topics to make their profession seem more respectable. Our last exam had 14 OMM written questions on it, which came from 300 powerpoint slides, 90% of which were completely useless and overly complicated. We did not need slides going into gruesome detail on the innervation and blood supplies of every nook and cranny of the vertebral bones just to teach us about back pain. They have a "chip on their shoulders" because they know that most people, including the students, don't take their BS seriously, so they try and fluff everything up.

👍

 

[se20001984]

im beginning to like snd more and more

as stupid omt lovers start vanishing


👍👍

 

[gmcguitar4]

So I was kinda excited to learn OMM because students told me of the pro-back cracking skills you develop and some other massage-like techniques. Can anyone vouche for this?

 

[sgemmell]

IDK, much of OMM was easy enough to understand. That said, there are some OMM techniques that are utterly BS (cranial, for example), imo. Then much of the rest of OMM doesn't have a lot of scientific backing behind it - just a bunch of anecdotal stuff. Hypothetically some of it could work, but the data is so mixed about most of it.

 

[DopaDO]

So I was kinda excited to learn OMM because students told me of the pro-back cracking skills you develop and some other massage-like techniques. Can anyone vouche for this?

There are some good things about it. I personally find muscle energy, soft tissue, and counterstrain to be somewhat useful. HVLA can be good too although sometimes I wonder if it does more harm than good. The problem is that all the BS kinda weighs down the other stuff. Hopefully in the future, they can cut out the bad (Cranial, Chapman's points, etc), and just teach us the good. I have personally used some OMM to great success, and I'm not particularly good at it. I actually treated a patient on my summer preceptorship who had CLBP and it was the first time he had relief in years. It felt awesome. Honestly if it never works again, that one time made it all worth learning IMO. In short though, trimming the fat is definitely needed.

 

[Didierdrogba]

There are some good things about it. I personally find muscle energy, soft tissue, and counterstrain to be somewhat useful. HVLA can be good too although sometimes I wonder if it does more harm than good. The problem is that all the BS kinda weighs down the other stuff. Hopefully in the future, they can cut out the bad (Cranial, Chapman's points, etc), and just teach us the good. I have personally used some OMM to great success, and I'm not particularly good at it. I actually treated a patient on my summer preceptorship who had CLBP and it was the first time he had relief in years. It felt awesome. Honestly if it never works again, that one time made it all worth learning IMO. In short though, trimming the fat is definitely needed.

I wholeheartedly agree. I don't mind the musculoskeletal stuff, but cranial and Chapman's should be eliminated from our curriculum.

 

[DocVapor]

I wholeheartedly agree. I don't mind the musculoskeletal stuff, but cranial and Chapman's should be eliminated from our curriculum.

Overall OMM has seemed fairly straightforward to me as long as you understand the body mechanics. It was overwhelming at first during lecture but if I slowed down, took a breath, and broke it down it made sense. At least at the time - a few weeks later (before the practical) I would need to do the same thing again.

Had maybe a lab or two with Chapman's points, so not a whole lot. Was highly skeptical at first like most people but had an experience or two that got me believing a little.

Haven't had cranial yet, but I'm not expecting the same experiences that I had for Chapman's points.

 

[se20001984]

There are some good things about it. I personally find muscle energy, soft tissue, and counterstrain to be somewhat useful. HVLA can be good too although sometimes I wonder if it does more harm than good. The problem is that all the BS kinda weighs down the other stuff. Hopefully in the future, they can cut out the bad (Cranial, Chapman's points, etc), and just teach us the good. I have personally used some OMM to great success, and I'm not particularly good at it. I actually treated a patient on my summer preceptorship who had CLBP and it was the first time he had relief in years. It felt awesome. Honestly if it never works again, that one time made it all worth learning IMO. In short though, trimming the fat is definitely needed.

👍👍👍👍👍