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Editor's Note:

This reprint of the September 2021 article Conductive Hearing Loss: A Case Report; Figure 2 was erroneously ommited from the original article and is now included alongside Figure 1 for appropriate context.

AAO sincerely apologizes for the omission of the second figure in the original publication of this article.

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Historically, Andrew Taylor Still, MD, DO, differentiated osteopathic medicine from allopathic medicine with its unique approach to treatment using manual therapy. Those treatments, known as osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT), are currently used to treat somatic dysfunction. The Educational Council on Osteopathic Principles (ECOP) includes different treatment methods, such as muscle energy, high-velocity, low-amplitude, Still techniques, myofascial release, and counterstrain, amongst others, under the category of OMT. Conversely, osteopathic practitioners outside the USA, mostly from Europe, use some techniques that are not necessarily documented as OMT by the ECOP. This is the case of the General Osteopathic Treatment (GOT). The GOT found its origin with Dr. Still and was promoted, amongst his contemporaries, by Dr. John Martin Littlejohn, DO, who founded the British School of Osteopathy in London. The general treatment, based on a strong biomechanical background, was further spread in Europe by John Wernham, DO, a British osteopath and one of Littlejohn’s students. Wernham developed and taught the GOT in its original form based on the principles and philosophy of osteopathic medicine. The goals of this article are to give an historical perspective of the GOT, to describe the foundation and concepts behind it, and to provide a review of the scientific literature of this treatment approach. The GOT can be used to diagnose and directly treat somatic dysfunction using the TART principle in a clinical setting. Besides the recognized contra-indications of treating somatic dysfunction, there are no clear scientifically published findings of contraindications for the use of the GOT. Like other OMTs, the GOT needs more scientific evidence to better understand its clinical applications.

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Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic neuropathic pain condition in a region of the body where the pain experienced by the patient is disproportionate to the stimuli preceding the pain. In this case, a 52-year-old post-menopausal woman presents with chronic distal limb pain due to a left ankle contusion from a work injury. Previous treatments that focused on specific symptoms failed. However, the patient was then evaluated and treated comprehensively by an osteopathic physician.

Treatment was tailored to individual patient needs based on the five models of osteopathic care. Within a 1.5 years period of integrative osteopathic treatment that utilized osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) in addition to medications and supplements, the patient was able to start walking again with only mild discomfort. This individualized approach seemed to improve her quality of life, and overall satisfaction with her health, psyche, and well-being. The patient is now discharged from the practice, has resumed normal daily activities, and is working full-time as a cashier.

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