But there is a difference. Though all D.O.'s learn to manipulate bone, muscles and connective tissue, not all use manipulation after graduation. The demand, however, for alternatives to conventional medicine has reawakened interest in manipulation. By including it in a comprehensive treatment regimen, D.O.'s say manipulation is an effective complement to more mainstream therapies. D.O.'s use manipulation to both diagnose and treat.
Studies show that it can relieve back and neck pain and menstrual cramps.
There's some evidence that manipulative techniques, alone or in combination with other therapies, can ease labor pain and delivery, relieve respiratory problems, soothe migraines and lower blood pressure. Osteopaths also use it to help relieve a wide array of other health problems, including premenstrual syndrome, pelvic pain, digestive trouble, ulcers, temporomandibular disorder, colds, sinus infections, carpal tunnel syndrome and fibromyalgia. Manipulation is a real boon to women during pregnancy. Before manipulating a new patient, she makes sure that the patient understands what manipulation and osteopathy are all about, she adds. It was the inspiration of a nineteenth-century M.D. named Andrew Taylor Still.