Supportive OMT Therapies for COVID-19 Resistance


While scientists work to find specific cures for Covid-19, the medical profession attempts to offer ways to support the body while it fights the disease. Many clinical approaches have been used to help support the body during past viral epidemics, and one has been osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMT).

Your clinician has the training to provide this approach using techniques that have been used over the last century to help people fight against viral infections and pneumonia.

Consider discussing with your osteopathically-trained clinician this video as a potential option to empower your body to resist the effects of this virus.

Thank you to our Practice-Based Research Network member Dr Michael Leins, DO for submitting the following video.

11 thoughts on “Supportive OMT Therapies for COVID-19 Resistance”

  1. Hello, how do we apply to be a part of the study. I received the information from Dr. Paul Lee and have been sharing it. Osteopaths are looking to apply but we are uncertain on how to do so.
    Thank you!
    Tiffany Robak, DO

  2. This is an excellent set of ideas/treatments. It needs to be used by our hospitalist/IM/FP residents. Any thoughts of passing it on to residency directors?

    1. Excellent idea! We will check into sharing both this video and the MOPSE video with residency directors. In the meantime, if you have contacts with them or other osteopathic colleagues, we encourage you to share both videos with them.

  3. Thank you for the informative video on OMT for viral illnesses including possible value for treating the Covid-19 infected patients. There have not, however, been any published studies to test the effectiveness of the various OMT techniques on THIS pandemic. There WERE scientific evaluations and resulting articles in the medical journals of the day, revealing the results of OMT during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic. I produced and uploaded a video ( originally made in 2009 for the H1N1 epidemic, and reshot 4 weeks ago) on those 100 year old techniques. You can see it on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/Y0JKrkfZUN0 or type in my name; richard chmielewski.
    Also can access it on Facebook, at The Falcon Clinic for Health, Wellness and Recovery.
    I am challenging the osteopathic profession to study the effectiveness of OMT for our present influenza as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. This is an excellent opportunity to prove to ourselves, and our patients and the public as to whether or not the osteopathic concepts really work.

    1. Thank you! We are planning to take up that challenge at DO-Touch.NET! Our members should have received an email regarding interest in participating in a simple prospective study on the use of OMT to treat COVID-19 patients with a retrospective study on the effectiveness of OMT to follow. For anyone in the osteopathic profession who is not a member of DO-Touch.NET but is interested in learning more about our plans, please sign up to be a member at https://www.do-touch.net/become-a-member/.

  4. What a wonderful video. I’ve been asking the question: “Might OMT manual lymphatic pump techniques improve outcomes in COVIC-19 patients, saving lives and reducing hospitalization time? Are there techniques that can be used at home with a partner, or by oneself, to bolster resistance to infection or speed recovery if infection takes hold?” I wrote 10 DOs at Western University with these questions, and one sent me your link. May I share it with family and friends on Facebook and encourage them to continue sharing, or do you worry that this should not be done without consulting a clinician? Also, are there self-help techniques an individual can use safely, like the pedal pump? I’m thinking that I should include lymphatic pump techniques in my daily exercise regime.

    1. We are asking the same question about the effect of OMT might have on patients with COVID-19 and hope to be able to research that very topic in the near future. We’re so glad one of our members shared our link with you and we would be appreciate you sharing it with anyone who you believe would benefit. We do encourage discussing this video with your clinician. Regarding self-help techniques, we are working on another video with just that information so please stay tuned!

  5. Two additional observations:

    1. It might be helpful to remind people to stay well-hydrated to eliminate toxins from the body released by these techniques.

    2. There are 3 techniques I use on my own similar to the ones in the video. I use Becalm balls or two tennis balls in a sock to cradle my head while lying on my back. To relieve paraspinal muscles, I lean into a convex corner in my kitchen, moving slowly up and down on either side of the spine until the pain of pressure on tight muscles diminishes. I also sometimes pump my feet rhythmically while lying on my back to create motion through the length of my body. Perhaps these methods can be included in your self-help techniques.

  6. Hello friends and colleagues!

    Like many DO’s/MD’s with osteopathic training, I have been eager to check the relevance of osteopathic technique and principle in the current pandemic. From reading the literature, and although I do have some clinical experience about treating patients, including elderly, with pneumonia, I had a feeling that the techniques of 1918 (lymphatic pumps of all kinds, etc) were not appropriate for this pandemic. This pathology is totally different in many ways. So I waited for a clinical case to check that feeling. I had one three days ago, a typical moderate CovidD – i;e., just before ARDS sets in – with no previous treatment other than paracetamol I knew I would not and could not do any lymphatic stuff as there is wild immune response, and no one should get anywhere near it. Believing that the problem is more of a neurological irritation – particularly of the Vagus – I mainly did inhibitory techniques on the sub occipital area and the upper sterno costal joints, including Chapman’s reflex The whole thing felt simple and right, for me and the patient lasted 10 minutes The results were remarkable, and there is continued improvement, with no further session I would love to share more details, to help with the profession’s stance about this pandemic I fear that if anyone, I mean it, uses splenic or hepatic or thoracic pump,, they may tip the very delicate immune situation of the patient, towards the side of a cytokine storm… Happy to detail further if you wish My greetings AAA

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