MD vs. DO Any Preferences? Upsides?
I'm currently looking for a new neurologist (switching from pediatrics to adulthood...yippee). However, as I am looking through the list of doctors that I can see, there are some that are MD, and others that are DOs. They are practically the same except for the fact that Doctors of Osteopathic medicine receive more hours of training (in manipulation of the body), and focus more on the homeopathic treatment (when there is an ability to do so) rather than the medication route.
Migraines are affected by so many different variables, and medications aren't the only things that can help. Could it in theory be more beneficial to see a DO instead of a MD since they do everything in traditional medicine, and then some? Pros and cons I am hard pressed to figure out for the two professions since they are practically one in the same, so any first-hand knowledge/experience would be helpful.
Hi migrainyday,
Thank you for your question and being part of the Migraine.com discussion forum - we're glad you're here!
I've been seeing a D.O for years and am very happy with him. Maybe set up interviews with both and see which one you click better with?
Another thought is to see a "true" migraine/headache expert rather than a neurologist. Neurologists are fine doctors but have a hard time being experts in one area because they treat so many different conditions such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and others. Migraine/headache experts treat one condition all day, every day - migraine/headache - and are board certified in headache medicine which is different than being certified in neurology. It's important to note not all migraine/headache experts are neurologists and all neurologists are not migraine/headache experts. Does that make sense? When you get a moment take a look at these articles discussing how these doctors are different and how to find one; http://migraine.com/blog/how-are-migraine-specialists-different/ and https://migraine.com/blog/really-find-headache-specialist/
I hope that helps. Please let me know if you have more questions 😀
