Question
Will sending my baby to an osteopath help with their symptoms?
Answer
No.
Explanation
Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT), according to the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) is "a set of hands-on techniques used by osteopathic physicians (DOs) to diagnose, treat, and prevent illness or injury". Osteopathic practitioners across the world make wide-ranging claims about the benefits of OMT for newborns, infants, and toddlers. A selection of ailments in babies they claim to treat:
- Reflux
- Asthma
- Eczema
- Hip dysplasia
- Excessive crying
- Excessive spitting up
- Flatulence
- Cramps
- Teething pain
- Developmental delays
- Colic
- Torticollis
- Plagiocephaly
- Feeding problems
- Sleeping problems
- Growing pains
- Ear infections
- Allergies
- Bronchiolitis
- Seizures
For each of these claims, there is no evidence or weak evidence that OMT is an effective treatment.
Parents who have their baby undergo OMT may feel it does help for some ailments, which can be adequately explained through regression to the mean (many of these ailments are ones that pass on their own) and the subject-expectancy effect (the parent has hope for — or belief in — a positive outcome).
Sources
Brurberg K.G., K.T. Dahm, I. Kirkehei, Manipulation techniques for infant torticollis, (Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2018 Dec 19;138(1), December 2018)
Dobson D., et al., Manipulative therapies for infantile colic, (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2012, Issue 12, December 2012)
Lessard S., I. Gagnon, N. Trottier, Exploring the impact of osteopathic treatment on cranial asymmetries associated with nonsynostotic plagiocephaly in infants, (Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2011 Nov;17(4):193-8, November 2011)
Pizzolorusso G, et al., Effect of osteopathic manipulative treatment on gastrointestinal function and length of stay of preterm infants: an exploratory study, (Chiropr Man Therap. 2011;19(1):15, June 2011)