The above belief is at the center of Dr. Jed Downs' practice, Occupational and Manual Medicine of Duluth, Ltd., the only one of its kind in the area.
Many of Dr. Downs' patients are those who suffer from chronic pain or are trying to recover from an accident; Downs uses a hands-on approach to relieve his patients' often debilitating pain. While certain anatomical injuries are too serious to completely overcome, Downs believes that osteopathic medicine can help patients better deal with their symptoms.
A graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth and the University of Minnesota Medical School, Downs completed residencies in internal medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center and in occupational medicine at St. Paul-Ramsey Hospital. Dr. Downs practiced occupational medicine at the Duluth clinic and St. Luke's Hospital for 16 years. While working in occupational medicine, Dr. Downs noticed an in-creasing amount of patients who suffered from chronic back and neck pain. In 1994, he began studying osteopathic medicine in order to discover why so some patients were able to heal and others were not.
Dr. Downs has completed over 1,000 hours of hands on training in osteopathy. He most recently attended a conference focused on cranial nerve diagnosis and treatment techniques and is now able to offer a more comprehensive cranial examination and treatment.
Dr. Downs is not able to reverse or correct certain conditions that require a specialist or primary care physician, such as cancer.
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He explains that we often feel pain in the areas where we are overcompensating in order to protect another sensitive area of our body.
Thus, we cannot simply be ill in only one area of the body; our bodies are complex and other organs are also affected when one area is not functioning properly.
For example, Dr. Downs worked with a patient who ran into a tree during a mountain bike race. The patient hit his groin on the handlebars during the accident and continued to suffer from severe leg pain despite medical intervention. The athlete was forced to bail out of a run after a mere 10 minutes due to his chronic pain.
Dr. Downs performed a full evaluation and discovered that the patient's pain could be alleviated by treating the arteries, large intestine and lower back.
After a few visits with Dr. Downs, the patient was able to return to competition. Many of his patients feel that their symptoms are now manageable or have disappeared completely after just a few sessions with Dr. Jed Downs.
Occupational and Manual Medicine of Duluth, Ltd. is located in the Lakewalk Building, 1420 London Road, Suite 102B.
If you are experiencing chronic pain, you may reach Dr. Downs at 724-6000.
