Dr. Curtis McElroy

Author: docmac

  • What To Expect During Your First Visit To An Osteopathic Physician

    What To Expect During Your First Visit To An Osteopathic Physician

    Considering care under the recommendation of an osteopathic physician has become more and more popular as people are beginning to understand the intricate connection between prevention and control of diseases.

    Doctors who practice osteopathy are often more interested in the prevention of disease and work to control or heal the body by giving an individual all of the support they need in order for the body to help heal itself.

    Doctors of osteopathy are fully trained as medical doctors and can prescribe medication, do surgery and order tests. However, their focus is more holistic than is the more traditional Western medicine doctors.

    When entering the office for the first time you should expect to give some of the same details that you would to a traditional medicine physician such as your name, address, height/weight, occupation, date of birth, children/pregnancies, medications or supplements, any painkillers or anti-inflammatories and any past histories of surgeries.

    During this first visit the doctor will also take a considerable amount of time taking a detailed medical history that will include information about your lifestyle and your diet as well as past injuries, illnesses and your birth history.

    Following your medical history the doctor of osteopathy will also do a full physical examination and ask you to perform a series of movements to test the mobility of your body.

    You may have come in with complaints of pain in one area might find after a thorough physical examination that this pain is a result of “referred” pain.

    In other words the origination of the pain occurs in one area of the body but the individual feels the pain in another area.  This might be likened to an individual having a heart attack where the heart muscle is dying but the individual feels pain down their left arm or in their abdomen.

    The doctor of osteopathy will also perform a variety of passive movements to your joints to arrive at a diagnosis and recommended treatment plan.

    The physician will often explain in detail what has gone wrong and show you models, pictures and diagrams in order to aid in your understanding of your body.

    The philosophy of a doctor of osteopathy is that the individual patient must be fully on board with the information and diagnosis in order to comply more completely with a treatment recommendation.  Only through education and time will individuals come to understand the reasoning behind the diagnosis.

    If the doctor of osteopathy is concerned with the presence of a more serious underlying condition you may be referred to a more appropriate specialist for treatment.

    During your consultation with the physician you will be given advice and help you find ways to self manage the injury.  Since prevention is the key to further injury the doctor may also give you an idea of potentially aggravating factors in your everyday life as well as advise on posture, ergonomics, diet and exercise.

    If you and your doctor of osteopathy choose to use manipulative techniques to help decrease your pain and discomfort you may find that several days after the visits, you have a different type of pain or soreness.  This soreness is related to the motion of the muscles having moved back into correct alignment.

    You should discuss this potential with your doctor of osteopathy prior to leaving the office so that you are not surprised in the next couple of days.

    What you might expect in your first visit with an osteopath is really not too much different than what you would expect with a doctor of medicine who spends time and energy educating his patients about the causative action of disease and how to prevent it further in the future.

     

  • What Are Osteopathic Treatments

    What Are Osteopathic Treatments

    Osteopathic treatments are performed after your osteopathic physician evaluates the result of evaluations and recommendations of a doctor osteopathy.

    This medical profession works from their knowledge of the normal anatomy of a human and compares that to the abnormal body.

    Each visit consists of a medical history, physical and structural examination, osteopathic diagnosis and osteopathic treatment.

    Prior to recommending treatments the physician will take a though history that will often include birth, injuries that affect the joints in either large singular impact or multiple smaller more chronic injury, inflammatory disease processes, surgeries, dental procedures and overall stress levels.

    Once this history is completed they will also do a structural examination that may be performed in a sitting position, lying down or standing.  The physician will be looking for bony asymmetry, tissue abnormality and fluid congestion.  Through touch the doctor will be evaluating the quality of motion, balance and organization of the muscle mass.

    Treatments made by a doctor of osteopathy are manipulations that are attempts to improve the range of motion of joints and to balance tissue and muscle mechanics to relieve pain and improve health.

    There are a number of different types of manipulations that a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) can use.

    Manipulations will include those that include cranial-sacral motion, counter strain, muscle energy, myofascial release, lymphatic pump, soft tissue techniques, a thrust technique, and visceral techniques.

    Most of these manipulations are done while an individual is sitting or lying down on a table.

    The doctor will gently apply a precise amount of manual pressure (pressure with their hands) in a specific direction.  The pressure is either directly over the affected areas or at some distance away.  This manual pressure is used to relax the tissue or to engage them at their functional limits.

    Doctors of Osteopathy will engage the tissues at their limits to relieve joint restriction or misalignment that is responsible for many back aches, muscle strains and spasticity.  This motion is also used to restore muscle and tissue balance and promote the movement of bodily fluids.  Many times these fluids are either in the lymphatic tissue which is responsible for draining specific areas of the body of toxins or fluids that accumulate around a muscle or joint that has been injured.

    Doctors of Osteopathy are also known for their treatment that impact structural and tissue abnormalities around the vertebrae, muscles, myofascial structures and joints.  These treatments are the ones that are commonly thought of when a person has their back cracked or manipulated.

    These terms are a misnomer since treatment is generally very gentle and it is only the rare person who experiences discomfort during a treatment procedure.  Tissues are supported and usually very little force is required.   However, each patient will experience something unique.  Some feel only a gentle touch while others experience the change in their body immediately.

    Each Osteopathic physician will apply osteopathic principles in treatment and while styles may differ from physician to physician the ultimate goal and modalities are the same.  It is the duty of the DO to listen, support and learn from the patient’s body so that an optimal state of health can be achieved.

    Results of osteopathic treatments can depend upon several factors.

    The most significant factor is the previous state of health of the individual as well as the severity and duration of the current problem.  It should be understood that treatments from a Doctor of Osteopathy aren’t a cure-all but rather a potential solution to some of their problems that have been imprinted individually by the traumas of their lives.

  • Health and Fitness For Kids

    When it comes to raising children one of the best things you can offer your child is the encouragement to live a healthy lifestyle. This  includes following a proper diet, routine exercise, weight loss if necessary, and risk factor modification to prevent problems with heart disease, lung disease, strokes, kidney disease, and other chronic medical problems on down the road.

    Children learning and making these factors a part of their daily life will play a major role in your child’s longevity and quality of life as they grow older.

    Your child’s observation of the example you set will provide the greatest impact on their long term health and wellness. If you have not started an exercise program, then do it for your children.

    Kids today are not as active as they were twenty years ago. Video games and television has made them more sedentary. Your children need to be active to maintain or achieve proper fitness and prevent them from becoming obese.

    It is a good idea to limit the time that your children are allowed to watch television, play video games or be on the computer.

    By placing limits on their sedentary activities, your children will be forced to find other activities to engage in. You may want to get  your children video games that require them to move their bodies to play. There are some great games available that will have your child dancing and even exercising.

    Find out what interests your child the most. If your child likes soccer or basketball, sign him up for a team. If your daughter has an interest in horseback riding, sign her up for horseback riding lessons. Do not push your child into a sport that he or she does not want to do. This will send a negative message to your child.

    If you have very young children, you can still encourage them to be active. Be silly around your little ones. Show them how much fun being active can be. Jump around to music, hop like a bunny or just play musical chairs with them.

    A great idea to get your kids more active is to have them do chores. The chores can be made more fun by turning them into a competition. See who can pull the most weeds in the garden or who can get their room clean the fastest. Making the chores fun will encourage the kids to help out around the house and become more active.

    When your child has a birthday, schedule a party in which they will be doing something active. You may want to take the kids at the birthday party bowling or swimming at the local YMCA. If you have a large yard, you could have a game of scavenger hunt or even a game of kickball.

    Make a family night of activity once a week. Have a different person choose each week what the  weekly activity is going to be. Challenge each member of the family to come up with something more creative than the previous week.

    Incorporating fitness into your family activities is not difficult if you use a little imagination. The whole family will benefit from becoming more active and living a more optimal healthy lifestyle.

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Copyright @ 2017 DrCurtisMcElroy