Osteopathic Considerations in Pain Management

Chronic pain is defined as pain that has persisted for greater than 6 months. This type of pain may last longer than 6 months and can continue even after the injury or illness that has caused it has healed or resolved. Pain signals can remain active in the nervous system for weeks to months and even years. Individuals with a chronic pain syndrome can experience severe negative effects on their activities of daily living and their mental well-being. The osteopathic philosophy and osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) set the osteopathic physician up to provide a comprehensive treatment plan to manage patients with chronic pain. To direct osteopathic techniques to address pain, it is imperative to understand the anatomy and physiology of the way pain is signaled to the central nervous system. Pain can also be classified into multiple categories based on the origin of the signal, which is essential to decipher to direct therapy. The goal of osteopathic care in chronic pain syndrome is to relieve musculoskeletal somatic dysfunctions and to normalize sympathetic and parasympathetic neural tone. This would create the optimal environment to induce the body’s own self-healing capabilities.