Leslie R. Gass, D.O.
Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
A.T. Still, founder of Osteopathic Medicine
The guiding principle of Osteopathy is that within each and every one of us are inherent self-healing and self-regulating mechanisms. The Osteopath’s focus is to discover what is causing the imbalance in your body and why. Osteopaths are trained and licensed as physicians and use all standard methods of diagnosis and therapy. They also use a system of manual techniques to diagnose areas of structural dysfunction in your body and help normal motion and balance return to all tissues and fluids. Treatment focuses on restoring motion within all areas of the body to ensure that the body is able to accommodate and adapt to the requirements placed upon it.
For example, a patient with pneumonia who also has poor respiratory effort has a much slower recovery if only given antibiotics. Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy (OMT) can improve the function of the diaphragm, ribs and lung motion thereby increasing opportunity for oxygenated blood to move through the infection, as well as promoting lymphatic drainage. This will help the body overcome the imbalance of the infection which can cause fatigue, loss of appetite, pain and shortness of breath. So the Osteopath looks not only at the diagnosis of pneumonia as an infection of lung tissue which is debilitating and sometimes life threatening, he/she also evaluates the patient’s capacity to literally fight off the infection by studying their circulatory and respiratory capacity, palpable signs of vitality, appetite, the effect on other organ systems and the effect on the patient’s mind and spirit. All of those issues are addressed in a customized hands-on treatment and reassessed after treatment to evaluate progress. The body can heal itself just as a stream dammed up can eventually clear its water by finding exit paths in crevices between the obstructing rocks. (www.traditionalosteopathy.com)
66 Leighton Road Suite 1
Falmouth, Maine 04105
Phone: (207) 773-7330, Fax: (207) 773-7340