What is VOM™?
Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation is a healing technology that locates areas of the animal’s nervous system that has fallen out of communication, and re-establishes neuronal communication and thus induces healing.
VOM is singularly the most simple, effective and safe healing modality in veterinary care to date. For the VOM practitioner it is an exquisitely objective, fast and easy to apply technology that takes a minimum of time to master and whose scope of application appears has yet to be fully appreciated.
Is Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation Chiropractic Care?
No!
VOM exists in between veterinary medicine and chiropractic care. It has similarities to some of the chiropractic modalities and functions by restoring function by reducing “subluxations” as is done in chiropractic care. It uses a hand-held device that is used in a popular human chiropractic technique called “Activator Methods” but it is not to be confused with that technique. The differences between VOM and Chiropractic care are significant and distinct.
VOM exists in a gray area between both professions (Veterinary and Chiropractic) and benefits from the positive aspects of both, a hybrid, and thus more effective than either by themselves.
VOM is not animal chiropractic care and thus is not taught by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association (AVCA). VOM is not recognized by the AVCA, (the AVCA does not recognize anything it does not teach).
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) does not recognize veterinary chiropractic care or the AVCA for now.
VOM is formally recognized in Washington State, by the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, Association of Pet Dog Trainers, the Maine Veterinary Medical Association, and the German Shepherd Clubs of America, to name a few.
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 1996, at which time his license was suspended for five years. In 2002 the suspension was over but he did not seek reinstatement. He currently does not hold a license to practice in any jurisdiction and limits his efforts in this field to teaching only.
Before Dr. Inman began using these non-invasive techniques he was an accomplished veterinary surgeon and clinical practitioner.
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.
Dr. Inman has taught in excess of 6700 practitioners throughout the US in a seminar series that is presented in four modules.
Unlike AVCA certification and instruction that takes 150 hours and five modules to complete, a veterinary chiropractitioner (VCP) can adequately apply VOM after a “VOM Small Animal Module One” seminar attended in their hometown in a weekend.
This unfortunately generates some criticism from AVCA Graduates whose excellent and extensive training is somewhat undercut by VOM’s simplicity and accuracy.
Why is VOM so Accurate?
Because 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”, “kind of there”, or “almost there” adding a factor of subjectivity to interpretation.
VOM is a precisely objective science.
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 taut and tender muscle may be discovered by a competent veterinary chiropractor 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 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.
How it Works
All chiropractic modalities have one thing in common in that they all reduce the vertebral subluxation complex by providing motion or force to the fixated or subluxated joint.
Spinal or Injury = 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. It is that simple. All the various types of chiropractic techniques have this motion or force into the subluxated joint in common.
VOM delivers its force with a hand-held device called a spinal accelerometer. It looks a bit like a spring-loaded doorstop.
Your VOM practitioner has extensive references covering the research investigating the principles portrayed above and can provide them upon request. These references are replete in chiropractic journals.
Is VOM an Animal Version of Activator Methods, a Human Chiropractic Technology Using the Hand-held Device?
No.
Activator Methods developed by Arlan Fuhr D.C. uses the spinal accelerometer and relies exclusively on listings demonstrated by leg length checks, which are anatomical subluxation signs
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 on that are turned off. 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.
Can the Device and VOM Harm My Pet?
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 motion that can potentially injure the animal, torsion, twisting, 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 I have 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)
Why Not Just Use Your Hands Like Other Veterinary Chiropractors?
Because 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 techniques are 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 my experience only 50% of domestic animals will completely cooperate with manual chiropractic adjustments.
All of them can be adjusted using the VOM Technology.
Why VOM is 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.
How Can VOM Be That Easy?
Why not? Who says that a healing modality has to be complicated, difficult and expensive? Who says it should take hundreds of hours to learn and perfect?
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, powerfu7l and effective.
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.
Many of the AVCA-trained veterinary chiropractors that have taken the VOM Seminar will chose to use the device to locate all the subluxations and then proceed to manually adjust the horse using the AVCA techniques.
Why Haven’t I Heard Of This Technique Before?
Because it works!
That may not make sense at first but consider this: if the VOM Technology does what it appears to do it makes a lot of techniques, surgeries and medications obsolete.
The professionals that provide those techniques, surgeries and medications will be placed in academic and financial jeopardy. These are the people that control publications in the field and control licensure and applications. AKA politics.
What Can VOM Treat?
Routinely treated are conditions such as:
1. Acute and non-acute lameness
2. Progressive lameness
3. Hip Dysplasia-like syndromes
4. IV disc disease
5. Progressive myelopathies, (down in the rears dogs)
6. Urinary and fecal incontinence
7. Unilateral lameness
8. Wobbler’s Disease
9. Diseases of the knee
10. Esophageal disease
11. Increased or decreased GI mobility disease
12. Digestive disorders
13. Performance problems
14. Behavioral problems
15. Agility dysfunction
16. Endocrine disease
17. Many more
What Will Happen to My Pet?
1.The Veterinary Chiropractitioner will do a “diagnostic pass” which entails him/her running the device down the pet’s spine, search for pathological reads indicative of subluxations. The subluxations found will be recorded.
2. If significant subluxations are found and they correspond to the clinical disease presented, then a course of VOM treatment will be recommended.
3. An estimate may be generated and other procedures may be recommended and quoted such as blood work, x-ray, and other diagnostic tests.
4. 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.
5. A third VOM pass will usually be made, (second therapeutic pass) and that data evaluated. Most if not all of the reads may be reduced at this point.
6. Your pet may then be sent home or may be observed overnight by the clinician depending upon the nature of the case.
7. 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.
8. Some medicines may be dispensed depending on the clinician and the nature of the case.
9. A series of 3-5 readjustments may be needed to reach a point where no reads are found in which case the subluxation pattern is “cured”.
10. Maintenance checks may be recommended every 4-6 months to watch for reoccurrence.
What Should I Expect as Results from VOM Treatments
You may see a response while your pet is on the examination table. It can be that fast. An experienced VPC may have treated cases where the animals haven’t walked for weeks, or even have been given up for dead. With one adjustment thrust, the pet stands and walks about the exam room.
The average case will see some sort of positive response within the first week and commonly the entering clinical complaint will be gone within the first three adjustments giving the client the false security that the case is completed.
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.
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.
Treatment Failures
Treatment failures fall into two categories:
1. Neurological damage is extensive, significant and permanent (too much serious injury for too long)
2. VOM treatment schedule not kept (most common cause of VOM failure and easiest to prevent)
What Will It Cost?
Your practitioner will generate an estimate for you including projected costs and will make estimations as to prognosis and success rates.
