Real Recovery 850

In an outdated traditional healthcare model where patients with chronic pain aren’t heard, athletes aren’t understood, and hands on evaluations are almost non-existent, patients are more lost and frustrated than ever before. Fellows of The American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (AAOMPT) provide the highest level of care for neuromusculoskeletal conditions by utilizing advanced clinical reasoning, highly specific treatment strategies, and incorporating the most up to date evidence based research.¹ If you have a neuromuscular related injury, or better yet, are a competitive athlete hoping to avoid one. You should be seeking the expert care of a fellowship trained orthopedic manual physical therapist, even more specifically, an Osteopractor. 

Diploma in Osteopractic

‘An Osteopractor is a physical therapist, medical doctor, or doctor of osteopathic medicine that has completed an evidence-based post-graduate training program in the use of spinal and extremity thrust manipulation, ultrasound-guided dry needling, instrument-assisted manual therapies, and differential diagnostics for the diagnosis and treatment of neuromusculoskeletal conditions’.² As a specialized practitioner, Osteopractors have the expertise to complete thorough examinations to determine the root cause of pain, instead of just treating symptoms. 

Holistic Healing

Pain is used by the body to protect from potential harm (nociceptive), to protect tissue currently in the healing process (inflammatory) and/or to communicate that there is damage or dysfunction of the nervous system (pathological).³ Over 142 million opioid prescriptions were written in 2022 alone.⁴ Oftentimes these prescriptions can “cover up” very treatable conditions. Instead of masking general aches and pains with medications for short term relief, Osteopractors listen to pain, assess body movement patterns, joint mobility, and muscular imbalances/compensations. This allows the practitioner to create an individualized treatment plan that leads to successful long term outcomes.⁵ The osteopractic approach utilizes treatments such as dry needling and joint mobilizations to manipulate the body’s natural healing process and direct it to the area of dysfunction or injury. Of the holistic approaches used by osteopractors, dry needling has become a staple for evidence based practice. Research shows that dry needling has biomechanical, chemical, endocrinological, and vascular effects that can be utilized for multiple treatment strategies.⁶ A literature review performed by Dunning et al.⁶ relates decreased blood flow with pain intensity and the role that improved microcirculation via dry needling plays with myofascial pain syndromes. 

Advantages of Cash-Based Services

With direct access, comes the availability of cash-based healthcare services. The benefits of cash-based specialized care are undeniable. The US healthcare payer system undervalues and poorly reimburses practitioners for patient education, preventative care, and prescribing physical activity.⁷ Cash based Osteopractors are able to escape the payer driven model and instead prescribe/treat patients with what they actually need – a professional guided approach to help the body heal itself, promoting overall health and wellness. Cash-based services also allow practitioners the freedom to provide one-on-one care improving the therapeutic alliance between patient and provider with enhanced communication, flexibility, empathy, and hands on care.⁸ Evidence also shows that physical therapists with fellowship training provide better patient outcomes in fewer treatment sessions compared to other physical therapists.⁵ 

The New Gold Standard

Osteopractic care is a patient centered expert approach and is the forefront of performance based preventative medicine and rehabilitation. The body communicates its needs through various complex systems and compensation patterns, luckily Osteopractors speak the language. 

Author

Dr. Haley Brown, Osteopractor

PT, DPT, Cert. SMT, Cert. DN 

Fellow-in-Training, AAMT Fellowship in Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy

References

1. AAOMPT.org. Education. Accessed April 8, 2023. https://aaompt.org/Main/About_Us/About_Us_-_General/Main/About_Us/About_Us_-_General.aspx?hkey=4000366b-a248-467b-a7ef-88c52a52993c
2. Spinalmanipulation.org. Diploma in Osteopractic. Accessed April 8, 2023. https://spinalmanipulation.org/diploma-in-osteopractic/
3. Woolf C. What is this thing called pain? J Clin Invest. 2010;120(11):3742-3744.
4. Cdc.gov. U.S Opioid Dispensing Rate Maps. Accessed April 8, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/rxrate-maps/index.html
5. Rodeghero J, Wang Y, Flynn T, Cleland J, Wainner R, Whitman J. The Impact of Physical Therapy Residency or Fellowship Education on Clinical Outcomes for Patients With Musculoskeletal Conditions. J Orhtop Sports Phys Ther. 2015; 45(2): 86-96.
6. Dunning et al. Dry needling: a literature review with implications for clinical practice guidelines. Phys Ther Rev. 2014;19(4): 252-265.
7. Joy E, Blair S, McBride P, Sallis R. Physical Activity Counseling in Sports Medicine: a call to action. Br J Sports Med. 2013; 47: 49-53.
8. Alodaibi F, Beneciuk J, Homes R, Kareha S, Hayes D, Fritz J. The Relationship of the Therapeutic Alliance to Patient Characteristics and Functional Outcome During an Episode of Physical Therapy Care for Patients With Low Back Pain: An Obversational Study. PhysTher Rehab J. 2021;101:1-9.