Dr. Ilene M. Spector is an osteopathic physician with a private practice specializing in Osteopathic Manual Medicine, with an emphasis on Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative Medicine (OCMM), also known as Cranial Osteopathy. Rooted in traditional osteopathic principles and practice, she treats people of all ages, from newborns to people in their older years, and for a variety of medical complaints. 

Dr. Spector’s office is in Crested Butte, Colorado. She has been practicing osteopathic medicine since 1989 and natural health care since 1974. 

From 1991 to the present, Dr. Spector has been very active in the Osteopathic Cranial Academy (OCA), a national organization of Osteopathic Physicians practicing Osteopathy in the Cranial Field, dedicated to teaching, advocating and advancing Osteopathy, including Osteopathy in the Cranial Field. She has served in both voluntary administrative roles and as active senior faculty, teaching physicians, medical students and dentists. She was awarded the OCA Proficiency Recognition in 2000 and received the OCA award for Exceptional Service in 2012. In 2014, Dr. Spector was named Fellow of the Osteopathic Cranial Academy (FCA), an honor awarded “in recognition of outstanding ability, knowledge, experience, skill and achievements in Osteopathy in the Cranial Field.” In 2023 she was chosen to present the OCA Sutherland Memorial Lecture during the OCA Annual Conference, an honor bestowed to a leader in the field to deliver a seminal talk reflecting on learnings in the field of Cranial Osteopathy.

What is a DO? A DO (Osteopathic Physician or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) is a fully trained physician, licensed to practice the entire range and scope of medicine and surgery. In the United States, both DO’s and their counterparts, MD’s, are the only unlimited-licensed physicians and surgeons, receiving the same training in medicine. In addition to their medical training, DO’s  receive training in the unique traditional foundation of the osteopathic profession, Osteopathic Manual Medicine. This includes training in osteopathic principles and practice. While you will find DO’s in every medical specialty (e.g., surgeons, cardiologists, neurologists, family physicians, etc.), those specialist physicians rarely utilize osteopathic manual medicine, and there are some DO’s like Dr. Spector who specialize in Osteopathic Manual Medicine.

Osteopathic Manual Medicine (OMM): OMM is a wonderfully gentle yet very effective hands-on medical treatment for a wide variety of medical conditions, including, but not limited to, various pain syndromes and recovery from injuries and traumas. It is often an answer to problems that have not responded to conventional medical, surgical or other therapeutic treatments. Osteopathic treatment recognizes the dynamic relationship of structure and function in health and disease. It is gentle and non-traumatic and addresses the body as an individualized whole. In the United States, it is only practiced by osteopathic physicians (DO’s). qualified MD's, and qualified dentists within the scope of their dental practice. Osteopathic medical training, perspective and practice differ greatly from all other professions which use their hands to treat patients, such as physical therapy, massage therapy, chiropractic, etc.

The goal of treatment is to restore healthy function, as much as possible, in any area of the body where there may be a need. Your body has an amazing ability to change and function more easily. There are vital mechanisms of inherent motion inside all of us that are capable of being accessed and utilized during osteopathic treatment by a skilled DO to help restore health. DO’s develop a very fine sense of touch, and, combined with their osteopathic medical knowledge of all the detailed structures and workings in the body and their interrelationships, are able to understand and treat many medical complaints in a unique way by restoring the body’s natural abilities to strive toward health and homeostasis.

Profound changes in physiology (the way the body functions or works inside) commonly occur from OMM because of the very specific nature and focus of osteopathic medical training and care. Yet patients experience these treatments as very comfortable and relaxing. They are often pleasantly surprised at how much better they feel with such gentle treatment. OMM is safe, appropriate and effective for all ages, from newborns into the older years.  

W. G. Sutherland, DO, founder of Osteopathy in the Cranial Field, describes Dr. Spector’s fundamental osteopathic approach well, saying: "Allow physiologic function within to manifest its own unerring potency rather than apply a blind force from without."