Frequently Asked Questions

Do you take insurance? No, we do not accept insurance.  However, osteopathic treatments are commonly reimbursed to some degree by most people’s insurance carrier.  The patient can submit the bill themselves directly to their insurance carrier.
What should I expect on a first visit, and follow up visit? All visits involve osteopathic evaluation and treatment.  On the first visit, there will be a detailed review of a patient’s medical history, follwed by a physical exam specific to the patient’s complaints, and then an osteopathic structural evaluation and treatment. This first visit takes 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Follow up visits are 45 minutes and involve a discussion of any updates to the patient’s condition, followed by osteopathic evaluation and treatment.
What will I feel during and after the treatment? Sometimes the osteopathic practitioner will move the pateint’s body around gently, and other times he will be quite still.  From the patient’s point of view, they may not feel much going on in thier body, or they may feel increased warmth, relaxation or parts of the body starting to shift and open.
Do you prescribe medication? I do prescribe medication when appropriate.  However, my specialty is osteopathic manipulation and I do not provide the function of a GP - general practitioner - or FP - family practice -physician.
What does osteopathy treat? Osteopathic treatment is useful for a wide range of issues, both acute and chronic.  The approach is gentle enough for infants, and potent enough for athletes of all ages.
DO all D.O.s practice osteopathic manipulation? D.O. stands for Doctor of Osteopathy. D.O.s are fully licensed physicans with the full scope of medical practice available to them.  Becoming a D.O. involves graduating from a four-year osteopathic medical school and then completing a residency in a particular specialty, lasting a minimum of three years.  While most D.O.s specialize in medical fields such as family practice, psychiatry, neurology and internal medicine, a few D.O.s choose to focus on “traditional osteopathy” - which is a method of using the hands to diagnose and treat the body.  This was osteopathy as it was originally intended and is now referred to as osteopathic manipulative treatment.

Case Studies

Case Study

A 54-year-old man hit by a car, with a subsequent fall and hit to the head, was found to have a subdural brain bleed requiring emergency surgery.

54-year-old man was hit by a car, taken to a hospital and found to have a 6-mm subdural hematoma (a collection of blood outside the brain). He was discharged, but then fifteen days later he fell and hit his head again. This time his subdural hematoma was found to have grown and he underwent exercency surgery to take out the blood and relieve the pressure in his head. He suffered from head pain and persistent dizziness. He was given osteopathic treatment as part of his successful recovery.

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Case Study

A 21-year-old man fell from 4 stories, sustaining serious injury to his head and face.

A 21-year-old man had a fall from 4 stories and was found to have multiple cranial fractures as well as epidural, subdural and intraperchymal brain bleeds, along with significantly decreased cognitive function. With osteopathic treatment as part of his medical care, he was able to recover his mental status – including his use of language – and his vision improved.

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Resources

Osteopathic Literature

Life in Motion

Rollin Becker DO

The Stillness of Life

Rollin Becker DO

Contributions of Thought

William Garner Sutherland DO

Teachings in the Science of Osteopathy

William Garner Sutherland DO

The Autobiography of Andrew Taylor Still

A.T. Still

Links to osteopathic resources

U.S. Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine

https://www.aacom.org/become-a-doctor/us-coms

American Osteopathic Association

https://www.osteopathic.org/Pages/default.aspx

American Academy of Osteopathy

http://www.academyofosteopathy.org/

Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation

https://sctf.com/

Cranial Academy

https://cranialacademy.org/