The Efficacy of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment in Reducing Pain Medication Usage in Chronic Pain Patients: A Brief Literature Review

Chronic pain is one of the most common complaints for adult patients. Chronic pain almost always includes a pharmacological approach which can involve opioids and non opioids. Non-pharmacological approaches are less commonly used by patients with chronic pain, despite the significant misuse of opioids in the treatment of chronic pain. There is a need for nonpharmacological therapies in the treatment of chronic pain patients to lessen the misuse of opioids. One underused form of nonpharmacological therapy for chronic pain is OMT. There have been several studies demonstrating OMT to be effective in treating chronic pain conditions. In addition, there is an assortment of studies demonstrating how OMT has been effective in reducing the amount of non-opioid medications patients take. However, there is a lack of information in the field detailing if OMT can decrease the amount of opioids a patient with chronic pain may take