Research is just as important in osteopathy as it is in allopathic medicine. The development of my low force techniques enabled me, with the assistance of Caroline Cleary D.O., to conduct the first ever placebo controlled osteopathic research study in this country, in 1992. The purpose of the study was two fold; firstly to discover if my low force techniques and cranial osteopathy could affect menopausal symptoms; secondly to test the affect of the low force techniques on neck and back pain and headaches.The study demonstrated dramatically reduced menopausal symptoms and relief of joint pain, headaches and migraines. It further showed that the volunteers were unable to distinguish between the trial treatment and the placebo. The full paper was published by the Longman Group Limited in the October 1994 issue of the quarterly journal "Complementary Therapies in Medicine".
It is my belief that we should always be trying to develop new treatment methods and where appropriate to test them in clinical trials.