Gentle, hands-on medicine that trusts the body’s innate ability to heal.
Osteopathic Medical Associates, PLLC
Serving Media, PA and the surrounding region since 2010.
What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathic medicine is a uniquely American form of medical care started in 1874 by Andrew Taylor Still, MD, DO. Dissatisfied with 19th-century medicine, Dr. Still studied the attributes of good health in order to better understand disease.
His philosophy — grounded in ideas tracing back to Hippocrates — focuses on the unity of all body parts. He identified the musculoskeletal system as a key element of health, recognized the body’s ability to heal itself, and stressed preventive medicine, good nutrition, and keeping fit.
Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT)
OMT is hands-on care. Using stretching, gentle pressure, and resistance, an osteopathic physician (DO) moves muscles and joints to diagnose, treat, and prevent illness or injury. The goal is simple: encourage the body to heal itself.
Osteopathy in the Cranial Field
Discovered and developed by William Garner Sutherland, DO in the early 1900s, cranial osteopathy perceives a subtle palpable rhythm throughout the tissues of the body — a quiet, involuntary expansion and contraction Dr. Sutherland called the Primary Respiratory Mechanism.
This mechanism influences every cell. Physicians trained in cranial osteopathy can place their hands on any part of the patient to perceive and gently support it.