In a changing health care culture in which patients are increasingly knowledgeable about their health and treatment options, many with gastrointestinal ailments are turning to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), including osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT).
OMT involves hands-on techniques to treat somatic dysfunction or impairment of the somatic system to alleviate pain, restore motion, support the body’s natural functions, and affect the body’s structure to help it perform more efficiently.1
This article reviews OMT and its use in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), constipation, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).