<unk>  (abbreviated as<unk>  is an approach to manual therapy used to improve the impaired or altered function of the musculo-skeletal system (somatic dysfunction). With roots in ancient Greek "frictions," manual manipulation has long been a part of health care.  Today's<unk>  was first practiced by Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., the founder of modern<unk>  medicine. In the United States, its country of origin,<unk>  is used by Doctors of<unk>  Medicine (D.O.s) along with surgery and medication in treatment of patients. Outside the United States, practitioners of osteopathy (who may have the qualification of D.O. as a Diploma of Osteopathy, but do not necessarily have the same medical training as American-trained D.O.s) generally limit their scope to manual manipulation.
There are different techniques applied to the musculoskeletal system as<unk> . These techniques can be applied to the joints, their surrounding soft tissues, muscles and fasciae.
Also,<unk>  is a treatment that is intended to be used in conjunction with mainstream treatments where it is deemed appropriate.  It is rarely used as a primary treatment regimen unless the D.O. is absolutely certain that the patient's problems are a result of a musculoskeletal somatic dysfunction.  Furthermore, as with other medical treatment methodologies, there are certain situations where use of<unk>  is strictly contraindicated (for example, cervical spine HVLA techniques may never be used on patients with Down Syndrome).
While this<unk>  practice is traditionally ascribed to D.O.'s, it should also be noted that there are M.D. practitioners of<unk>  since many<unk>  medical schools have created training programs for their M.D. counterparts.  Recently<unk>  training programs have likewise been extended to other medical professionals including, but not limited to:  Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, etc.
Some techniques used in<unk>  are:
Balanced ligamentous tension (BLT)
Counterstrain
Cranial osteopathy
High Velocity Low Amplitude Thrust (HVLAT)
Joint mobilization - articulatory techniques
Lymphatic Pump
Muscle Energy Technique (MET)
Myofascial Release
Neuromuscular therapy, trigger point therapy or myodysneuric point therapy
Soft Tissue Technique
Visceral manipulation
When combined as<unk>  Manual Medicine, these forms of treatment allow the<unk>  physician to restore the normal contact within the joint and with other structures. This eliminates muscular spasms and tensions in the ligaments, thereby restoring complete mobility to the joint. It is probably the comprehensive and eclectic style of<unk>  that distinguishes it most from that employed by most other manual therapists. The immediate goal of musculoskeletal manipulation is to restore maximal, pain-free movement of the musculoskeletal system in postural balance.
Osteopathic manipulative medicine
Complementary medicine
Back pain medical therapy
Guillain-Barré syndrome physical therapy
Back pain surgery
Spinal stenosis surgery
Peripheral neuropathy interventions
Alternative medicine