Manual Therapy
Manual therapy is a specialized therapeutic modality where the practitioners apply pressure using their hands on your muscles and manipulate the joints to relieve the pain caused by various musculoskeletal conditions. Certain musculoskeletal conditions may result in restricted joint mobility which can cause discomfort, pain, changes in posture and movement. Manual physical therapy controls pain caused by muscle spasm, muscle tension and joint dysfunction thereby restoring normal range of motion. It encompasses a variety of techniques including:
- Mobilizations of spinal or peripheral joints to improve range of motion
- Joint manipulation to “unlock” a spinal or peripheral joint
- Soft tissue mobilization to decrease tissue irritability and improve tone
- Active and/or passive muscle stretching to improve a muscle’s length
- Manually resisted strengthening and stabilization
- Manual traction for spinal decompression
Manual therapy is typically part of a complete treatment plan that is customized for your specific needs. Give us a call to learn how we can incorporate manual therapy into your rehabilitation program.
To maximize the effects of the manual physical therapy, therapeutic exercise is essential. The goal of the exercise program is to reinforce the hands-on work done by your physiotherapist. We strongly believe in empowering our patients by educating them on ways to facilitate healing, improve posture, perform efficient movement patterns, and body mechanics, and how to progress their treatment plan. We include patient education during every treatment session. We emphasize the prescription of individualized exercise programs both in the clinic and at home. Our patients play an active role in their care.
