D.O. stands for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. D.O.’s, like their M.D. colleagues, are fully trained physicians, licensed to practice all aspects of medicine and surgery, and may specialize in any medical specialty or sub-specialty. D.O.’s treat patients, perform procedures and prescribe medicine in offices and hospitals across the country and in the U.S. armed services. They use all of the resources of modern medicine to prevent, detect, and treat disease, however they also offer their patients something more.
Osteopathic Physicians are specially trained in Osteopathic Principles and Philosophy, and its’ hands-on application known as Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) or Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT).
Osteopathic Medicine is founded on the principle that the body’s structure and function have a dynamic relationship that play into one’s state of health or disease. It emphasizes the importance of treating the whole person, encompassing mind, body and spirit. Osteopathy recognizes how each of these entities is integrated into the whole being and contributes to the patient’s symptoms and disease process.
Osteopathic Treatment creates the opportunity to develop a physical understanding of the extent of one’s health or illness, and provides an integrative approach to help stimulate the patient’s healing process. We evaluate what anatomical or functional restrictions might be disrupting normal performance, and analyze body habits and movement in order to know how to improve function.
The Osteopathic physician draws on extensive knowledge of “living anatomy” and physiology during your examination and continually re-assesses that information while the treatment is taking place. In essence your treatment is dynamic and individually designed for you, after listening to your story, doing a visual and manual examination and treatment.
The Osteopathic Physician understands the integral role the musculoskeletal system plays in their patient’s complete wellness. The musculoskeletal system provides a gateway to gather information from all other systems of the body, such as digestive, circulatory, respiratory, immune, and cardiovascular. Additionally the musculoskeletal system serves as an interface to treat those systems using Osteopathic Manipulation.
Cranial Osteopathy specifically addresses the nervous system and its interplay with the rest of the systems in the body. Cranial Osteopathy is a subspecialty within Osteopathic Medicine, and physicians who integrate Cranial Osteopathy into their practice such as Dr. Shahabi, have had extensive additional education and training to be able to safely and effectively implement these valuable modalities.
For additional information regarding Osteopathy and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine,
please refer to the following informative links.
www.osteopathic.org
www.cranialacademy.org
www.academyofosteopathy.org