Years ago when my dad was 51, he somehow injured his back and could hardly move. He couldn’t drive. We carried him into a D.O. office and he walked out. He never had another back problem and lived to 97.
Chiropractors had a necessary place in our economy dealing with the uninsured as it’s the only way they can afford any medical service at all. With all due respect to our good friends who go to them still for every medical problem, it’s like taking your car to Jiffy Lube for transmission replacement . A DO as a primary care and can refer you to a specialist too. Just realize that you need a referral for an injury like this to an MD who is an orthopedic specialist first. DOs are not specialist but take a wholistic approach.
" I'm not sure why they would want to get the DO if they intend to practice a different branch of medicine. All my doctors have MD after their name, but if I had an orthopedic issue a DO would be just fine. "
I think that you’re still not getting it, @jtsanders.
While D.O.s do indeed get manipulative training that goes beyond the training that both they and M.D.s have in common, D.O.s–in all-too-many cases–have given up that part of the philosophy behind the old traditions of their branch of medicine. In almost all situations, nowadays, what a D.O. does for his/her patients is indistinguishable from what an M.D. does for his/her patients.
When my back problems first emerged–in the early '70s–I used an elderly Osteopath who performed some virtual miracles with my spine. (Incidentally, he was the local Police Surgeon), but subsequent to his retirement, I found that almost all of the younger D.O.s don’t want to do manipulative therapy anymore. Instead, they simply do what M.D.s do–namely–use conventional diagnostic tests and then prescribe medications based on the outcome of those tests. As I said earlier, functionally, there is really no difference nowadays between the practices of a D.O. and an M.D., in most cases.
My best friend–who is a critical care registered nurse–uses a Pulmonologist who is a D.O. for his respiratory problems. What is the difference between this D.O. Pulmonologist and the M.D. Pulmonologists who enter my friend’s critical care unit? He has a much lower incidence of screw-ups than the M.D. Pulmonologists, and that is why my friend–who witnesses the good outcomes as well as the bad outcomes–chose this man for his own respiratory care.
You need to rid yourself of the belief that D.O.s are only relevant for issues related to orthopedics, as they practice in essentially all medical specialties nowadays. As I said earlier, in most instances, there is really no longer any functional difference between what a D.O. does and what an M.D. does.
In modern times you need to understand that D.O. = M.D. in all medical specialties.
I prefer to disagree @dagosa, the first time I felt the need to go to a chiropractor was due to back pain, regular dr gave me an xray gave me muscle relaxers and told me I at 49 had the back of a 20 year old. Now I have occasional problems, but been on maintenance with him 2 to 6 months between visits, got prescribed orthodics, and am good with that, from having to crawl to the bathroom in 1994 due to back pain.
Now my mom and sis have had hip replacements, and after a couple of months of chronic hip pain figured I need a new hip. He did a series of tests, determined it was not bone on bone, but stress on the sacryilliac nerve causing issues. Now I am in no pain, working my way back to a few stairs a day, as my thigh muscles need to rebuild strength.
I found my Chiropractor has been better than sliced bread for me.
Hi there. Barkydog, I hope your wife is on the mend soon. However, this one’s gotten a ways afield from the forum’s subject, so please bring it back if you don’t mind. Thanks.
best wishes to your wife barky…
Unsure at what to do for rear ended wife
Um, I rear-ended my wife once a long time ago, but that’s another story …
Seriously dude, you’re on the wrong forum.
Triedaq In the mid to late 1980s My doctor was licensed/certified as an MD, DO, Orthopedic Surgeon, Chiropractor, Physical Therapist, Nutritionist, and Acupuncturist. What an over achiever! I had an old football knee injury from 1967. When I played football spikes were real. Steel center surrounded by a nylon cone. I was badly spiked in the side of my left knee. The family MD cleaned the wound, put in a couple of stitches and called it good. I had a bad knee for almost 20 years. During those 2 decades I worked fairly physical jobs which were mostly automotive related and used over the counter pain medications and cortisone shots which were temporary relief. My MD/DO with ultrasound discovered my meniscus which is the cartilage disc in our knees had been folded by the spike. He injected a lubricant which looked like DEXRON ATF but was not and used manipulation to return the meniscus to it’s proper position and stop the bone on bone contact that was causing the chronic pain. So far. So good.
@VDCdriver, maybe DOs are not allowed to manipulate joints. In Maryland, state law does not allow physical therapists to manipulate joints. Only chiropractors can do that. Maybe medical doctors, both the MD and DO kind, are held to the same rules. Let’s not debate the rules, however.
Thank you for the explanation of how it applies to you. That makes you emphasis more understandable.
@jtsanders–It’s not a question of how it applies to me, but rather, how it applies to everyone.
As an educator, I fought a long battle against misinformation, and that task has not ended!
From the website of The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine:
Osteopathic Medicine and Medical Education in Brief
•The nation faces a critical physician workforce shortage. By 2020, the gap between our physician supply and demand will range from 50,000 to more than 100,000.
•Colleges of osteopathic medicine are graduating more and more students each year. More than 4,800 new osteopathic physicians enter the workforce each year.
•The nation’s approximately 76,000 fully licensed osteopathic physicians practice the entire scope of modern medicine, bringing a patient-centered, holistic, hands-on approach to diagnosing and treating illness and injury.
•Today, more than 20 percent of medical students in the United States are training to be osteopathic physicians.
•Osteopathic physicians can choose any specialty, prescribe drugs, perform surgeries, and practice medicine anywhere in the United States.
•Osteopathic physicians bring the additional benefits of osteopathic manipulative techniques to diagnose and treat patients.
Although much of the training for a D.O. is the same as for an M.D. as you said, there are many patients who prefer D.O.s because their training also includes more of a holistic philosophy.