Osteopathic Manual Medicine

Osteopathic medicine is guided by central principles that form the foundation of how we practice: the body should be treated as a unified whole—one integrated system where mind, body, and spirit are inseparable; structure and function are deeply interrelated, such that restrictions in one domain ripple through the entire system; and crucially, the body possesses an inherent capacity and inclination to heal itself. This third principle is not metaphorical. Your body continuously works to restore balance, regulate itself, and adapt to stressors. Our role is to recognize and support that process.

Prevention and wellness are central to osteopathic medicine. Rather than waiting for dysfunction to become symptomatic, we partner with you to maintain the conditions under which your body can thrive. Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) complete four years of medical training and are fully licensed to practice the complete scope of medicine in any specialty. This means we are not alternative practitioners—we are physicians trained in the full breadth of modern medicine and in the specialized knowledge of how structure, nervous system function, and the body's self-regulating capacity work together.

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What Is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine?

Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs), like Doctors of Medicine (MDs), are fully licensed physicians in the United States who can practice medicine and surgery in all specialties. What distinguishes DO training is specialized education in the musculoskeletal system and the intricate web of relationships connecting nerves, muscles, fascia, bones, organs, and the circulatory and lymphatic systems. We learn to read these relationships through refined palpation—the skilled use of touch—and to understand how a restriction in one area cascades through your entire physiology. DOs practice in all areas of medicine, including primary care, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and surgery. Some DOs specialize in osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM), while others integrate OMM into their specialty care. 

Learn more at the American Osteopathic Association .

What Is Osteopathic Manual Medicine?

Also known as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM), OMM is a hands-on approach grounded in the understanding that your body's structure and capacity for self-healing are inseparable. Through refined palpation and perceptual skills, physicians trained in OMM assess areas where tension, restriction, or dysfunction may be blocking or impacting your body's natural healing process. Treatment is designed to restore mobility, reduce pain, and—most importantly—remove the barriers that prevent your inherent healing mechanisms from working. This is not treatment to you, but treatment with your body's own wisdom.

What Does Treatment Look Like?

OMM treatments involve a range of hands-on techniques, from gentle, subtle approaches to more direct methods such as stretching, joint articulation, and guided movement. Sessions may address muscles, joints, ligaments, fascia, organs and their related nervous, circulatory, and lymphatic systems. Each session is individualized, tailored to what is being communicated at each moment of each visit. 

The goal is always the same: to listen through touch, to gently shift the conditions that have created restriction, and to allow your body's remarkable capacity for self-correction to activate. You leave treatment not just with reduced symptoms, but more resourced—physically, neurologically, and systemically—to maintain your own health.

What to Expect During a Visit

During your visit, your physician will review your medical history, perform a physical exam, and develop a personalized treatment plan. Treatments are typically performed while lying comfortably face-up on a treatment table.

OMT is generally gentle and should not be painful. Responses to treatment vary, and benefits may continue to develop in the days following your visit.

How to Prepare

Conditions Treated

OMT can be used across all ages and may support a wide range of conditions: