What OMT Helps

WHAT OMT HELPS

This page contains various articles about what OMT helps.

OMT helps all types of problems: structural and internal -- and -- on all levels: physical, mental, emotional & spiritual. Everything is connected. These are examples of what OMT may help:

In a Nutshell: The Value of OMT

Structural

Pain
Strain
Sprain
Somatic Dysfunction
Tingling
Neuropathy
Neuralgia
TMJ Dysfunction

Internal

Infertility
Head Trauma
Sluggish Flow of fluids through:
- fluid channels
- organs
- fascia/connective tissues
Difficulty getting deep breath
Dizziness & Vertigo
Autoimmune dysfunction
Migraine
In Little Ones it may help:
- nursing troubles
- sleep
- encourage normal development
- prevent need for ear tubes

Stress and Trauma can adversely affect any level: physical, mental, emotional &/or spiritual. OMT helps to optimize functioning which may help any of these areas of a patient's health.

Each person is unique, so what OMT can do for one may be different than for another. When I see a patient, I will advise if my evaluation finds anything that OMT might be able to help. I am honest and tell patients what I think I can and what I think I can't help with OMT.

What can Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) help?

Newborns and Infants

During the last few months in the womb and during birth the baby's head undergoes enormous compressive forces, with the skull bones even having to overlap in order to fit through the birth canal, and they often do not fully reposition themselves back to a normal relationship with each other after the baby is born. This can lead to restrictions in blood flow and nerve impulses.

Poor nursing ability,
Poor sleep,
Inconsolable crying,
Irritability,
Frequent ear infections,
Seizures,
Developmental delay/learning disabilities,
Attention difficulties,
Hyperactivity

are often caused or contributed to by such restrictions induced in the womb or during the birth process.

Pregnancy

Physical, chemical and emotional changes occur during pregnancy. More demands are made on the organs of the mother in order to care for the growing life within and on her musculoskeletal system in order to carry the extra weight. Various prenancy-related symptoms can often be helped by OMT, such as:

morning sickness,
heartburn and
breathing tightness,
aches & pains,
and OMT often can help the mother have a better labor & delivery.

After the baby's birth, the woman often would benefit from OMT, as the strain (especially on the pelvis) of labor & delivery can sometimes cause or contribute to such things as:

postpartum depression,
back pain,
tailbone pain,
headache,
bowel and bladder dysfunction.

All Ages

Various health problems can be aided by OMT as many internal dysfunctions (such as of the heart, lungs, stomach, colon, bladder, menstrual, infertility) are contributed to by structural dysfunctions, since structure and function are interrelated and affect each other.

Strains, sprains, symptoms after falls or bumps or accidents are often helped by OMT. But not all symptoms occur immediately. Often a person has symptoms that began later, and not immediately after an injury or strain or fall, and thus the person does not correlate the two, when in fact they are related. The body does all it can to heal itself and wall off within itself injury & strain patterns, but they often remain and manifest themselves later, sometimes even decades later. For example: 1. A person may have what seems to be a minor car accident/fender bender, has minor aches and pains at the time that do not last, and then three years later migraines begin. Migraines can often be traced back to a trauma. 2. Often each trauma, even seemingly minor ones, add to the strain already present. Thus, the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back: the person says "I just bent over to pick up a pencil and my back went out", when in fact it was all of those prior strains that all added together to finally manifest as this unexpected pain.

Article by Liz Chapek, D.O. 01-2005.

Cranial Osteopath,Baby Poor suck, Baby Poor sleep, Baby Fussy

Cranial Osteopathy: Newborns & Babies

Cranial Osteopathy - what is it?

Cranial Osteopathy, performed by an osteopathic physician, is a recognized and effective form of hands-on exam and treatment of the anatomy and physiology of the head and body. Gentle and safe in the newborn and baby, treatment enables the inherent healing ability of the body to effect the release of physical stresses and strains.

Why is it needed?

The last few months in the womb as well as during the birth process is physically stressful. The newborn is subject to enormous forces during this time. Many of the newborn's skull bones are actually in several parts at birth, which enables the skull to absorb these forces by the parts overlapping each other. But because they are in parts, they can become compressed or twisted within a bone and/or in relation to another bone from pressure on the head. This pressure on the head can occur while the newborn is head-down in the birth canal the last few months before delivery (so even c-section and/or premature babies can have this problem) as well as during a vaginal delivery. Nerves that regulate such things as the ability to properly breastfeed, cry, sleep, etc. pass through between bones as well as through tiny holes within a bone and when bones are compressed or twisted within a bone or between two different bones, these nerves can be adversely affected. This moulding effect lessens as the baby cries and breastfeeds, however, it is often incomplete. (And bottle feeding does not help this because there is no or minimal effort on the baby's part with bottle feeding to obtain the milk like there is with breastfeeding). Research has shown 85% of newborns have strains in their heads and bodies.

What can it help?

Newborns:

Weak suck ability
Slow feeder, or voracious feeder who constantly seems to need to suck
Preferred feeding position
Colic, excessive spitting up
Poor sleep, sleeps only short periods, or hard to get to sleep
Preferred sleep position
Excessive sleepiness
Weak cry
Excessive crying and/or irritability
Irregular head shape or flattened area of skull
Some cases of cerebral palsy

As baby grows:

Recurrent ear infections
Persistent mouth breather due to congested or runny nose
Developmental delay
Sits, crawls or stands too early
Poor ability to concentrate
Restlessness, hyperactivity
Seizures

When to treat?

Newborn (within the first month of life) preventive exams and treatment are encouraged whenever possible, before symptoms develop.
Certainly, if a newborn is having a problem, then the earlier treatment is begun, the better, both to help the newborn as well as the worried parent(s).
In general, it is important to recognize early signs of a problem, as physical stresses respond best while the skull bones are still in parts, and thus able to more fully accomodate change towards normal.
The goal is always to optimize the patient's function by positively affecting their structure.

Article by Liz Chapek, D.O. 12-2002, 1st revision 03-2005.

Liz Chapek, D.O.

Dallas Osteopath

Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine

Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment

Cranial Osteopathy

6760 Abrams Road, Suite 203

Dallas, TX 75231