Frequently Asked Questions About Osteopathy

DOs and MDs are both fully licensed physicians who are authorized to prescribe medication and perform surgery on patients of all ages. While attending their own medical schools, DOs are responsible for the same academic discipline as their MD colleagues and receive an additional 300 to 500 hours in the study of the body’s musculoskeletal system. Physicians who wish to pursue this field and become a Cranial Osteopath must train an additional five years in practice just to be eligible for certification testing in this area.

To understand why approximately 25,000,000 Americans prefer Osteopathic physicians (DOs) over allopathic physicians (MDs), it is important to look at the similarities between the two, and then the differences. The time spent in medical school and residency programs is virtually identical for DOs and MDs. DOs spend four years in medical school, followed by a year-long rotating internship in Osteopathic hospitals. If they choose to specialize, residency programs are available in the full range of specialties. Both MDs and DOs must take state licensing exams to become practicing physicians; in many states the exam is the same.

It is the focus within the medical training that the differences between DOs and MDs start to appear. Osteopathic medical education places more emphasis on preventive medicine, body structure, Osteopathic treatment and the importance of family practice. More than 75% of the DOs in the United States are in family practice, as opposed to only 25% of the MDs.
Osteopathic physicians are more likely to view a patient as a whole person, taking into account not just the physical symptoms, but also lifestyle, emotional well-being, and environment.

This philosophical debate whether to focus on the patient’s disease or the total patient precedes DOs and MDs. It goes back to the beginnings of medical history when Hippocrates, the “father of medicine” believed in focusing on the patient. The rival Cnidian philosophy focused only on the disease itself.

Finally, the differences are highlighted when it comes to treatment.
Osteopathic physicians, also trained in the use of drugs and surgery, believe strongly in the self-regulating, self-healing, and self-repairing ability of the body. DOs are more likely to promote the body’s own ability to heal itself through means as safe, non-intrusive and with as few side effects as possible. Osteopathic Manual Medicine (OMM) is often used as a primary healing tool.

Many patients choose DOs because they are more comfortable with the philosophies and treatments of Osteopathy. Others may not be as aware of the difference in medical philosophies, but they return to DOs again and again. For these patients, the reason is simple. It works.
Osteopathic Medicine: Some Facts

• Osteopathic physicians emphasize that all body systems, including the musculoskeletal system, operate in unison. By recognizing the critical relationship between body structure and body function, the DO is trained to recognize that a disturbance in one system can alter the functions of another system and/or all systems.
• DOs focus not just on one symptom or complaint, but on the whole patient– including lifestyle, environment, diet, fitness, and emotional wellbeing.
• Osteopathic manual treatment of the musculoskeletal system has been proven to be a successful treatment technique for many disorders. It can provide a natural alternative to numerous drug therapies.
• 52% of graduating DOs enter primary care, such as family practice, internal medicine, and pediatrics, where they can focus on the whole patient.

Osteopaths hold to the common sense principle that a patient’s history of illnesses and physical traumas are written into the body’s structure. It is the Osteopath’s highly developed sense of touch that allows the physician to palpate (feel) the patient’s “living anatomy” (i.e. flow of fluids, motion of tissues, and structural make-up). In more clinical terms, a DO can even detect physical problems that fail to appear on an X-ray. The Osteopath’s job is to “set” the body up to heal itself. To restore this normal function, the Osteopath gently applies a precise amount of force to promote movement of the bodily fluids, eliminate dysfunction in the motion of the tissues, and release compressed bones and joints. In addition, the areas being treated require proper positioning to assist the body’s ability to regain normal tissue function. This treatment modality, OMM, is even more gentle when the principles of Cranial Osteopathy are applied and can be used to safely and effectively treat infants, babies, children, and adults.

After a thorough evaluation, the patient lies down on the examination table ready for treatment. DOs treat the dysfunction in the patient’s body taking advantage of the body’s natural tendency to strive toward a state of health and homeostasis. Many patients frequently report feeling a deep sense of relaxation, tingling, and/or flow of fluids as their pain is relieved. Although treatment varies, the Cranial Osteopath primarily concentrates on normalizing the body’s “mechanism” or put in more clinical terms, The Five Components of the Primary Respiratory Mechanism (as pioneered by William G. Sutherland, DO).
Since the late 1800s, DOs have been able to successfully diagnose and treat medical problems with their hands, much to the disbelief of many of their MD colleagues.