Osteopathic manual therapy worked as well as conventional therapy for temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) in a randomized controlled clinical trial reported in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (April 2010, Vol. 14:2, pp. 179-184).
Researchers from the University of Palermo divided 50 patients suffering from TMDs randomly into two groups of 25 each.
Osteopaths manually manipulated the jaws of 25 of the patients. In manual manipulation, osteopaths move muscles and joints using techniques such as stretching, gentle pressure, and resistance. The other patients were treated with conventional therapy, such as nonsteroidal medication and muscle relaxants, for six months.
Prior to treatment, at six months, and again two months later, the researchers measured patients' subjective pain intensity (on the visual analogue pain scale), clinical evaluation (temporomandibular index), the range of maximal mouth opening, and lateral movement of the head around its axis.
They found that both groups of patients improved about equally over the six months of treatment, but noted that the osteopathic group used a lot less medication.
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