osteopathy

[chicky78]

Has anyone gone to see an osteopath to help them with thier bladder pain and Ic symptoms? I went to an assessment appt and they said that the fact I am having headahces is directly related to my IC because the bladder pulls on the spinal area.....which leads up to the head. When you see so many different doctors and they all have different theories of this, that and the other, it is hard to figure out what is true and what is not, anways just wanted to know if anyone else had seen an osteopath and what their experience was like

[Dixiefireball]

I'm sorry I havent had any exp. with this type of doctor maybe someone will be by shortly with you some answer.
have a great day
Rhonda

[ICNDonna]

Actually there are now Doctors of Osteopathy in many medical specialties. The newest urologist in practice with my uro's group is a DO.

Just a little trivia I wanted to share.

:)
Donna

[Tectonic]

If my symptoms have not improved after one month post-diagnosis, my GP has encouraged me to make an appointment with a urologist. I learned that my care facility has two urologists available: one with an MD (medical doctor) in urology and one with an OD (osteopathy doctor). When I make the appointment, I don't know if she will choose for me or if I'll have to choose between them.

In the time since this thread started, has anyone seen an OD for IC treatment? Scouring the web, I didn't find much helpful info. Anyone's insight would be appreciated!

[Tectonic]

I have an appointment with an osteopathic urologist for Thursday. There are only two urologists available to me in my network, one OD and one MD. The MD is out for knee surgery, so the decision was made for me. Had I had a choice between them, I'd have gone with the osteopath.

My GP told me he'd do a cystoscopy that day, but when I called to find out if I'd need a ride home, they informed me that as a "new patient," this meeting would not include the cysto. I don't know what it will include. I assume a conversation, some speculation, and probably a lot of crying on my part.

As documented above, I've been struggling to find information on precisely what an osteopathic urologist does, and I finally found something today. I cannot post a link without having my post discarded, but if you search "Osteopathic Urologist Caroline Stone," you can find a 54 page .pdf document published in 2006 with loads of info and pictures. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm happy to have found some pertinent information. What I cannot find is any conclusive information regarding the effectiveness of osteopathic treatments on IC patients.

I suppose that if they were completely ineffective, they wouldn't waste time addressing IC with OD techniques. I will post about my experience after my appointment. In the meantime, if anyone has anything to add, any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

[ICNDonna]

An osteopath does pretty much the same things as a medical doctor. At least that's true about the one I know. The one in the urology practice where I go has taken care of me on occasion when my uro was out of town.

Donna

[Tectonic]

Thanks for the info, Donna. It's weird: I thought an osteopath generally avoided invasive procedures as much as possible, but this guy is the head of the surgery board at the hospital he's a part of. What a strange combination.

[plmokn]

As medical student who applied to both osteopathic and allopathic schools I can tell you that they are very similar at this point. When osteopathic medicine was begun it was much more wholistic as a contrast to allopathic schools. The only real difference now is that osteopaths get trained in OMM which is a way to manipulate the body similarly to a chiropractor. Usually when practicing as a specialist they are almost indistinguishable from their MD counterpoints. DOs can even get MD residencies now as long as they take the right board.

[Tectonic]

I appreciate the feedback. I'll see them in two days, for a verbal consultation. I think I have a lot of musculoskeletal problems that I'd like to explore, and I'm glad to be seeing an experienced OD who may be able to tell me if they're related to this condition at all. I'll report my experience here this weekend.

[Julie B]

My son's girlfriend is studying to be an osteopathic physician and she thinks she wants to go into UroGyn! YEAH!!!!! And the OMM (a type of muscle manipulation) is a very interesting concept. She has done manipulations on us for various things and it works very well. :-)