Manual Therapy
|
|
|
Within the physiotherapy profession, manual therapy is defined as a clinical approach utilizing skilled, specific hands-on techniques used to diagnose and treat soft tissues and joint structures for the purpose of:
Techniques include:
Manual therapy is the most difficult skill for a physiotherapist to learn and requires a great deal of education and practice. It is an essential component to any good therapist’s tool kit. If your therapist is not using manual therapy as a component of treatment you’re not getting the best treatment available.
- modulating pain
- increasing range of motion (ROM)
- reducing or eliminating soft tissue inflammation
- inducing relaxation
- facilitating correct mechanical movements in joints
- improving function
Techniques include:
- MET (muscle energy technique): designed to mobilize restricted joints and lengthen shortened muscles
- Myofascial release: Often muscle tension will interfere or inhibit normal joint motion and function. Myofascial release breaks the “adhesions” in muscles and tendons that may be caused by scar tissue, swelling, edema or spasm. Each layer of tissue is evaluated from the skin down to the muscle and areas of greatest resistance are released through various movements and pressures.
- Mobilizations: Often muscle spasms are secondary to a restricted joint. Joint mobilizations loosen up restricted joints and increase its range of motion by providing slow and repetitive movements, to improve joint range of motion.
Manual therapy is the most difficult skill for a physiotherapist to learn and requires a great deal of education and practice. It is an essential component to any good therapist’s tool kit. If your therapist is not using manual therapy as a component of treatment you’re not getting the best treatment available.
