Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation (VOM) FAQs

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A. What is VOM?


Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation is a healing technology that locates areas of your animals nervous system that have fallen out of communication, and then re-establishes communication in these areas thus inducing healing. VOM is a simple, safe and effective procedure. For the VOM practitioner it is an exquisitely objective, fast and easy to apply technology whose scope of application has yet to be fully appreciated.

B. Is Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation Chiropractic Care? 


VOM has similarities to some of the chiropractic modalities and restores function by reducing subluxations (nerve interference) as is done in chiropractic care but the differences between VOM and Chiropractic care are significant and distinct. VOM benefits from the positive aspects of both specialties (Veterinary and Chiropractic), like a hybrid, and can be more effective than either by themselves.

C. History, Origination and Development of VOM


VOM was developed by Wm. L. Inman BS, BS, DVM, CVCP, in Seattle WA, in Dr. Inman's clinical practice from July of 1982 to date. Before Dr. Inman began using these non-invasive techniques he was an accomplished veterinary surgeon and still consults in veterinary surgery. His vacillation to VOM from surgery reflects his frustration in ineffective surgical solutions to common veterinary medical problems. VOM was developed in a vacuum, meaning it was developed with a trial and error approach in a clinical setting without input from other sources. Dr. Wm. Inman has been the sole source of the VOM Technology. The body of the VOM Technology is the culmination of information gleaned from over 35,000 patients treated for clinical disease.

D. Why is VOM so Accurate?


VOM finds and reduces all neuronal subluxations. All neuronal subluxations have a pathological reflex demonstrably associated with them. A pathological reflex is like a knee jerk response. It is either there or it is not. It is an objective means to determine the presence and reduction of neuronal subluxation. The pathological read is not partially there, kinda there, or almost thereadding a factor of subjectivity to interpretation. VOM is a precisely objective science.

E. Chiropractic Listings vs. VOM Pathological Reads


All chiropractic techniques (veterinary and human) rely on the chiropractic listing to determine the presence of a subluxation. Through manual palpation a misplaced bone prominence or a taught and tender muscle may be discovered by a competent veterinary chiropratitioner whose patient is cooperative and relaxed. This is a listing, an anatomical subluxation sign, and almost always is indicative of a neuronal subluxation syndrome. Unfortunately only 40% of all neuronal subluxations produce palpable anatomical subluxation signs. This means over half of all the animal's subluxations will be overlooked if anatomical listings are used as a means to discover them. The good news is that all neuronal subluxations produce pathological reads and all these reads are obvious and easy to discover and reduce. The goal of an adjustment in an animal is that all the vertebral subluxations in that animal are reduced. Subluxation reduction based on anatomical listings will get approximately half of the total neurological subluxations present in the animal. Subluxation reduction based on pathological reads will get them all, and will verify they have been reduced. Fast, easy, effective.

F. How it Works 


Spinal Injury (with or without symptoms) = Neuronal Subluxation Syndrome = Pathological Read

Neuronal subluxation + Motion (force) = Subluxation Reduced

So if you put motion into a joint that is associated with a neuronal subluxation sign, (a pathological read), you reduce the subluxation. VOM delivers this force with a hand-held device.

G. Why do you use the VNA tool?


The Veterinary Neurologic Adjusting (VNA) Tool was developed to replace and enhance the applications of the previous hand-held adjusting devices. It increases the force needed to adjust certain areas of the domestic animal; complete diagnosis and treatment in most horses requires more force than does a kitten. The VNA Tool can deliver 0.0-93.3 lb of force in half the time as the previous devices. It has a very accurate dial on the end that exactly selects the force needed to treat all animals from a parakeet to a draft horse. It effectively replaces all other hand-held devices used for animal adjusting. It has the advantage of firing in 1/2 the time of the other tools (which is easier on the animal) and benefits from increased sensitivity in the diagnostic phase of treatment. It requires an electrical current and can be fired thousands of times as fast as the practitioner can squeeze the trigger, all day long. This device is not only faster and more accurate than other devices, but it eliminates wrist and hand strain caused by the non-electric devices.

H. What Does the Hand-held Device Do to My Pet?


It reduces the subluxations present in the joints of your pet. It cannot create a subluxation in your pet. It can only flip the neuronal switches that are turned off, on. It cannot flip a switch off. It provides very accurate and precise motion to specific areas of the pet's spine and if a subluxation is present it can detect and reduce it quickly and without pain or injury. It can confirm that the neuronal subluxation is reduced even if it is not associated with an anatomical listing.

I. Can the Device and VOM Harm My Pet?


No No No!!! The beauty of the VOM Technology is that it provides the exact amount of force to the subluxated joint needed to reduce the subluxation with out having to induce a lot of motion. It is excessive motion that can potentially injure the animal, for example the torsion, twisting, and mass movement etc. inherent in manual adjusting techniques. The device trades motion for speed to maintain the force needed to reduce the subluxation through Newton's Second Law of Motion (FORCE=MASS X ACCELERATION). In over 35.000 animal adjustments including pets with fractures, tumors and acute spinal diseases Dr. Inman has yet to injure a pet with the accelerometer. (Note: sometimes the adjustments may cause some minor pain or discomfort but does not produce enough movement to cause injury)

J. Why Not Just Use Your Hands Like Other Veterinary Chiropractic Techniques?


Our hands are too slow. The fastest an excellent veterinary chiropractor can move a joint under optimum conditions and patient cooperation is 80 milliseconds. The animal's natural reflexive resistance to adjustment is 20 milliseconds or 4 times faster. This demonstrates the need for patient relaxation and cooperation and is the reason that excellent technique is imperative for success using manual adjusting. Conversely the device fires at a rate of 2-4 milliseconds which 5-10 times faster than the animals ability to resist adjustment. The patient is always adjusted, every time, all the time, whether they want to or not, in any position, attitude or mood. In Dr. Inman's experience only 50% of domestic animals will completely cooperate with manual chiropractic adjustments. All of them can be adjusted using the VOM Technology.

K. Why is VOM so Successful?


Because it locates all the neuronal subluxations present in the animal regardless of whether clinical listings are present and reduces them and confirms their reduction. Inherent in the VOM Technology is a built-in rescheduling protocol that inserts the patient on a self-regulating readjustment interval. Again, an easy, objective science.

L. How Can VOM Be That Easy?


Why not? Who says that a healing modality has to be complicated, difficult and expensive? A technique that goes to the root of the problem, a simple technique that relies on the animals innate ability to heal itself, one that re-establishes communication with the pet's ability to heal itself, will be easy, powerful and effective.

M. Is VOM Effective On Horses?


You bet! All the reads that we see in the dog and the cat are magnified in the horse. Areas usually devoid of subluxations in the shoulder areas of dogs and cats are hot spots in the equine.

N. Is VOM Effective On Other Animals?
Dr. Savko has treated rabbits, pot bellied pigs, and even a bearded dragon lizard. No animal is too big or too small for this amazing technology.

O. What Can VOM Treat?

▪ Acute and non-acute lameness

▪ Progressive lameness

▪ Hip Dysplasia-like syndromes

▪ IV disc disease (all types)

▪ Progressive myelopathies

▪ Urinary and fecal incontinence

▪ Unilateral lameness

▪ Wobbler's Disease

▪ Diseases of the stifle

▪ Recurrent ear and eye infections

▪ Esophageal disease

▪ GI hyper or hypomotility

▪ Digestive disorders

▪ Performance problems

▪ Behavioral problems

▪ Agility dysfunction

▪ Endocrine disease

▪ Anterior Cervical Instability

▪ Caudal Cervical Instability

▪ Pre Surgical

▪ Post Surgical-in many cases VOM has been used immediately after surgery to get pets up 3-5 days sooner than without VOM treatment

▪ Neurodermatitis

▪ Milliary Eczema

▪ Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome (FHS)/Feline Skin-Spinal Reflex (FSSR)

▪ Kidney Dysfunction

▪ Megacolon

▪ Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease (CIBD)

▪ Arthritis/Tenosynovitis/ Bursitis/Tendonitis

▪ Muscle and ligament strain

▪ Around tumor and fracture locations to aid in pain reduction and healing

▪ Avulsion of the brachial plexus

▪ Unilateral nerve paralysis/paresis

▪ Lick granulomas

▪ Idiopathic Feline Vestibular Disease (IFVD)

▪ And more, the full scope of this technology has yet to be realized. Remember, with or without symptoms any animal that shows pathological reads during a VOM treatment has nervous interference at that spinal segment. VOM can reduce and often times resolve this interference thus inducing healing

P. What Will Happen to My Pet?

▪ Dr. Anderson  will do a diagnostic pass which entails him running the device down the animal's spine to search for pathological reads indicative of subluxations. The subluxations found will be recorded.

▪ If significant subluxations are found, then a course of VOM treatment will be recommended. An estimate may be generated and other procedures may be recommended and quoted such as blood work, x-ray, and other diagnostic tests.

▪ A second VOM pass will be made (therapeutic pass) and the changes to the reading pattern will be noted. Your pet may be already showing signs of improvement.

▪ A third VOM pass will usually be made, (second therapeutic pass) and that data evaluated. Your pet may then be sent home or may be observed overnight depending upon the nature of the case.

▪ An appointment to return for readjustment will be made upon release and post-adjustment instructions will be given as to activity and potential discomfort that evening. Some medicines may be dispensed depending on the nature of the case.

▪ A series of readjustments may be needed to reach a point where no reads are found in which case the subluxation pattern is cured.

▪ Maintenance checks may be recommended every 4-6 months to watch for reoccurrence

Q. What Should I Expect as Results from VOM Treatments 
You might see a response while your pet is being examined. It can be that fast. An experienced clinician, such as Dr. Savko has treated cases that haven't walked for weeks, been given up for dead, and with one treatment the pet stands and walks about the exam area. The average case will see some sort of positive response within the first week and commonly the entering clinical complaint will be improving or resolved within the first few adjustments. Cases that show no response within 1 month may not resolve towards a satisfactory solution. Cases that have had paralysis or lack of function for years or months may not respond well to VOM, however, one does not know until you try.

R. Why do I Have to Come Back?


The body has gotten used to functioning in a sort of state of out of communication and the nervous system has thrown up a nerve adaptation that allows some marginal level of function. The body develops a pseudo-memory of how it has adapted. When the body is re-introduced to functioning correctly, that system wins out for a stretch of time until the nagging pseudo-memory of the neuronal adaptation re-expresses itself on the body again and the body slips out of adjustment. Systematic readjustment on a succinct schedule then finally wins out over the pseudo-adaptive memory and further adjustments are not necessary.

S. Treatment Failures
Treatment failures fall into two categories:

▪ Neurological damage is extensive, significant and permanent (too much serious injury for too long)

▪ VOM treatment schedule not kept (most common cause of VOM failure and easiest to prevent)

T. What Will It Cost?


Dr. Anderson will generate an estimate for you including projected costs and will make estimations as to prognosis and success rates.