Randomised controlled pilot trial on feasibility, safety and effectiveness of osteopathic MANipulative treatment following major abdominal surgery (OMANT pilot trial)

Postoperative complications are a major concern after gastrointestinal surgery. Resolving movement restrictions such as postoperative paralysis, osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) may be beneficial. The OMANT pilot study was the first prospective trial to investigate the feasibility, safety and potential benefits of OMT after gastrointestinal surgery … ABSTRACT

Knowing hands converse with an expressive body – An experience of osteopathic touch

Touch is the process by which one person physically contacts another individual and as such plays an integral role in osteopathic practice. Osteopathic practitioners use touch in almost every aspect of care including examination, diagnosis and treatment. Although touch is intrinsic to osteopathic practice, there has been no published research to date that qualifies the experience of osteopathic touch within a treatment session. The aim of this phenomenological study was to examine and describe the patient’s experience of touch during a consultation with an osteopathic practitioner … ABSTRACT

Understanding clinical reasoning in osteopathy: A qualitative research approach

Clinical reasoning has been described as a process that draws heavily on the knowledge, skills and attributes that are particular to each health profession. However, the clinical reasoning processes of practitioners of different disciplines demonstrate many similarities, including hypothesis generation and reflective practice. The aim of this study was to understand clinical reasoning in osteopathy from the perspective of osteopathic clinical educators and the extent to which it was similar or different from clinical reasoning in other health professions … MORE

Somatic dysfunction: An osteopathic conundrum

Somatic dysfunction is considered a central concept for the theory and practice of osteopathy, but its relevance to the modern profession is questionable due to its unclear pathophysiology and poor reliability of detection. This article will explore the factors that may produce clinical signs attributed to somatic dysfunction and discuss the plausibility of the concept … ABSTRACT

Adjunctive osteopathic manipulative treatment in women with depression: A pilot study

Touching the Lived Body in Patients with Medically Unexplained Symptoms. How an Integration of Hands-on Bodywork and Body Awareness in Psychotherapy may Help People with Alexithymia

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are a considerable presenting problem in general practice. Alexithymia and difficulties with mental elaboration of bodily arousal are hypothesized as a key mechanism in MUS. In turn, this inability influences the embodied being and participating of these patients in the world, which is coined as ‘the lived body’ and underlies what is mostly referred to as body awareness (BA). The present article explores a more innovative hypothesis how hands-on bodywork can influence BA and serve as a rationale for a body integrated psychotherapeutic approach of MUS … MORE

Targeting Patient Subgroups With Chronic Low Back Pain for Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Responder Analyses From a Randomized Controlled Trial

Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is often used to treat patients with low back pain (LBP). The objective of this study was to identify subgroups of patients with chronic LBP who achieve medium to large treatment effects with OMT based on responder analyses involving pain and functioning outcomes from the OSTEOPAThic Health outcomes In Chronic low back pain (OSTEOPATHIC) Trial … MORE

Recovery From Chronic Low Back Pain After Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Little is known about recovery after spinal manipulation in patients with low back pain (LBP). The objective of this study was to assess recovery from chronic LBP after a short regimen of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) in a responder analysis of the OSTEOPAThic Health outcomes In Chronic low back pain (OSTEOPATHIC) Trial … MORE

Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment for Older Patients: A National Survey of Osteopathic Physicians

However, the percentage of osteopathic physicians who use OMT in older patients, the differences in conditions for which OMT is used, and the OMT techniques used in older patients compared with younger patients are unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the use of OMT by osteopathic physicians in older patients compared with younger patients … ABSTRACT

Manual Techniques Addressing the Lymphatic System: Origins and Development

Numerous articles have been published describing the scientific discovery of the lymphatic system, but few of these articles have focused on the origin and development of manual techniques addressing this complex system of vessels, valves, nodes, and organs. These manual techniques—like knowledge about the lymphatic system itself—evolved late in the history of medicine. MORE