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Chiropractic Terminology | O

Obesity: This is an excess proportion of total body fat. A person is considered obese when his or her weight is 20% or more above normal weight.

Objective Findings: Observations made during chiropractic or medical evaluations that are not under the patient's control, such as X-ray results, neurological deficits and positive and negative orthopedic results.

Oblique: This refers to an X-ray view. They show the object from the front with all depths at an angle of 45°.

Occiput: This is the anatomical term for the posterior portion of the head.

Occipital: Of, or relating to or located within or near the occiput.

Oleylethanolamine (OEA): A fatty acid found in some foods that sends a strong signal to the brain to stop eating. OEA is a powerful satiety factor and appetite suppressant.

Opiate: This is a drug derived from the opium plant. The main opiates are morphine, codeine, heroin, thebaine and papaverine.

Orthopedics: This is the study of the musculoskeletal system.

Orthopedic Surgeon: A medical doctor that performs surgery on conditions involving the musculoskeletal system.

Orthopedist: This is an orthopedic doctor that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of problems of the musculoskeletal system.

Osteoarthritis: The wearing away of cartilage that protects and cushions joints including those in the spine and extremities. Stripped of their protective material, the joints begin rubbing against each other, causing pain and impeded movement.

Osteopathic Medicine: A medical discipline that emphasizes the interrelationship between structure and function of the body and recognizes the body's ability to heal itself. Particular attention is paid to muscles, joints, bones and nerves through defined osteopathic manipulations.

Osteopathy: In its purest form, osteopathy is a form of drug-free non-invasive manual medicine that focuses on total body health by treating and strengthening the musculoskeletal framework, which includes the joints, muscles and spine. The aim of osteopathy is to positively affect the body's nervous, circulatory and lymphatic systems. Many osteopaths have abandoned the all natural aspect of osteopathy and prescribe medicines and perform surgery.

Osteoporosis: This is the most common type of bone disease. Osteoporosis is the thinning of bone tissue and loss of bone density over time. Osteoporosis occurs when the body fails to form enough new bone, when too much old bone is reabsorbed by the body or both. This loss of bone density can result in bone brittleness.

Osteophyte (a.k.a. Bone Spur): A bone spur, also known as an osteophyte, is a bony growth formed on normal bone. Most people think of something sharp when they think of a "spur," but a bone spur is irregular shaped bone. A bone spur forms as the body tries to repair and protect itself by building extra bone. It generally forms in response to pressure, rubbing, or stress that continues over a long period of time. Chiropractic treatment restores normal mobility and function to the spine which can slow this bone spurring process down.

Out-Of-Network: An insurance term describing the provision for reimbursement of services by a provider who is not a participating provider of the patient’s insurance plan. Out of network benefits are sometimes reduced as a result.

Overload Principle: The concept of progressively increasing the load and its training effect is known as the overload principle. It can be defined as the application of any demand or resistance that is greater than those levels normally encountered in daily life. The degree of intensity with which the system is overloaded will affect the rate at which physiological adaptations take place. The closer the overload is to maximum, the greater the physiological improvement, provided that the overload is applied in gradual progressions and can be tolerated by the body for it takes time for the human body to adapt to additional exercise without experiencing fatigue or excessive muscle soreness.

Overuse Injuries: This is an accumulation of many tiny injuries of muscle, bone or ligament tissue which causes pain and loss of function. Overuse injuries are more common than acute injuries and yet are more subtle and difficult to diagnose. They occur gradually over time and therefore usually do not begin to appear until several weeks into a training program. Symptoms may include pain, muscle spasms, and stiffness.

Overweight: This is generally defined as having more body fat than is optimally healthy.