Specialist treatment for injured bones and joints OCM Orthopädische Chirurgie München, based in the south of Munich, has specialised on treating patients that suffer from illnesses and injuries of the musculoskeletal system. The doctors’ main goal is to give patients an overall treatment on the highest medical level and out of one hand – from diagnostics to surgery, from minimally invasive therapy to rehabilitation. TEXT: JESSICA HOLZHAUSEN I PHOTOS: OCM
Maybe one of the most common illnesses of today’s life are related to our back, neck, breast and lumbar vertebrae. It is indeed a widespread disease: According to one of Germany’s main health insurers, back injuries were responsible for more than 60 million work absences in 2015. Not all of them are related to accidents, many are the result of natural abrasion, overstretched ligaments or tense muscles. “Many complaints have their origin in a wrong lifestyle: We are not moving enough and sit for a long time. Problems like the so84 | Issue 57 | December 2017
called mobile phone neck or overweight are additional problems. All these factors contribute to excessive strain on the back,” says the OCM back expert. The Munich-based specialists at OCM treat back injuries on a day-to-day basis, often using minimally invasive or endoscopic methods to avoid complicated operations that are stressful for the body and the patients. For example, using non-fusion techniques intends to obtain the natural movement of the spine, while stabilising injured parts at the same time. OCM, the short form for
the German translation of ‘orthopaedic surgery Munich’, was founded in 2003 as a merger of three orthopaedic surgeries and will celebrate its 15th anniversary in 2018. Since the beginning the surgery has treated about 300,000 patients with various conditions. The surgery can fulfil the full orthopaedic spectrum on a highest level, because the different doctors working here have each specialised in a certain field or on certain body parts. To specialise and focus on one joint has positive effects on treatments: According to research this reduces complications. OCM consists of a private clinic and an orthopaedic-surgical medical care unit. The surgical team of 20 doctors – some of them internationally acclaimed specialists – are supported by 140 highly-motivated and professional staff members with