Name: Joseph Matheu
Background: Matheu, 49, earned his D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) degree from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1969. He has a family practice in Oak Lawn and also treats patients at a Marquette Park clinic. His professional memberships include the American Osteopathic Association and the American Medical Association. A native Chicagoan, Matheu and his wife, Ginny, have three grown children and live in Palos Park.
Years as an osteopath: 22
Patients will sometimes come in on a referral, for a neck injury, for example, and after therapy they will ask me if I know a good dermatologist or gynecologist. They`re surprised when I explain that I am a licensed physician and can examine their rash or do a pap smear-anything a family doctor can do. People sometimes confuse osteopaths with chiropractors or think that osteopaths are limited to manipulative therapy. But we are trained in all disciplines of medicine.
Half of the D.O. physicians are in primary care, chiefly in family practice. The other half are in various specialties, including surgery, radiology and emergency medicine. D.O.s comprise 5.5 percent of the practicing physicians in the country and 10 percent of the physicians in the military. In fact, the medical director of Desert Storm was a D.O. physician.
A D.O. medical school program consists of four years of postcollege training, a one-year internship, and a two- to five-year residency. During the four-year program, we take the same type of medical courses that M.D. students take, but we also take emphasis and training in manipulative medicine, which stresses hands-on techniques in diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal problems.
I work six days a week, treating about 150 patients a week between my private practice and the clinic. I usually make hospital rounds every other day. In my office, I see sore throats, sinus infections, heart disease, lacerations, hypertension, bronchitis, pneumonia, peptic ulcers-the usual routine things the average physician sees-but I do get more of the
musculoskeletal problems, back pain and muscle strain being are the most common.
Say the patient presents himself with back pain. A history is taken, and I do a physical examination of the area. Like any licensed physician, I make a medical diagnosis as to whether the back pain is caused by simple muscle strain, a ruptured disk or from an aneurysm or osteoarthritis.
My M.D. counterpart would order X-rays when appropriate, prescribe medications to control the pain and perhaps a course of physical therapy. I would do the same, but I also incorporate manipulation in eliminating the musculoskeletal pain. I feel for what is wrong, stretching and massaging the muscles. I do corrective manipulative techniques that will restore some of the muscle integrity and the health of the patient.
I don`t want to give anyone the idea that manipulative therapy is a panacea. It is one more therapeutic tool. But it`s not unusual to have someone referred by another physician because the patient hasn`t responded to medications. Or he`s in a lot of pain and has already had CAT scans, MRIs and ERGs. Sometimes, one manipulation is all it takes. The patient who has chronic muscle pain from an auto accident may require repeated manipulative treatments, physical therapy and medications.
I would say I use manipulative therapy at least a third of the time, a significant amount. In addition to back and neck pain, it has proven very effective in the treatment of headaches, chest pain, sore throats due to muscle strain and pneumonia, in conjunction with standard medical treatments. For example, for a patient with headaches, if I determine that they are muscle-contraction headaches, they may be the result of stress and may respond nicely to manipulation.
Of course, I also talk to that patient about stress management and teach him stress modification techniques. The osteopathic emphasis has always been on a holistic or ”whole person” approach, dealing with the individual in relationship to his family structure, the job and so on.
Manipulative-therapy expertise comes with training. I felt fairly proficient by my last year of school. I recall that in my first week in private practice, a man hobbled in and told me he had been suffering from back pain for some time. I applied manipulative therapy, and when he got off the table, I said, ”How do you feel?”
He walked around and said, ”The pain is gone. I feel great.” I said,
”You do?” I was so new at being in charge that I was actually surprised that I had helped someone.
A good day is when I`m seeing the patients I saw several days ago, and they`re better. Their hypertension is controlled. They`re no longer sick.
Or I may have had the type of day where I`ve made a diagnosis that may have been lifesaving. For instance, I had a patient some months ago whom I diagnosed as having Kawasaki syndrome, a serious viral illness that is difficult to spot because it mimics strep throat and other illnesses. In fact, it was only the second case I had ever seen.
I referred him into a hospital where the pediatrician and the lab confirmed the diagnosis, and we shipped him over to Children`s Memorial Hospital for treatment. That child is doing fine now. That definitely makes for a good day.
A bad day is when I`m running about an hour behind schedule because I had an emergency case, and the insurance company is calling me on one phone wanting to know why a patient isn`t discharged from the hospital, and I have an intern on the phone calling for orders on a patient, and another patient is calling saying they`re not getting better, and I look out my window and see I`ve got 10 people in the waiting room. Standing room only. Stress is what makes a bad day.
It`s always most difficult to have a patient who has terminal disease and you have to face that with him, give him the news. You`re sitting down and telling him that he has lung cancer or colon cancer, and you tell him the extent of the disease.
On the other hand, it can work just the opposite, too, and you can say,
”Well, fortunately you came in when the symptoms occurred. We`ll do the appropriate tests and we`ll get a jump on this.” I refer him to a specialist and stay in touch.
Medicine is still a very good career to go into. There`s a lot of personal satisfaction for someone who is scientifically oriented and enjoys working with people. It allows you to put something back into society. That`s the reason I originally went into medicine. Every day affords me the opportunity to do something for someone.
