Manual therapy is a hands-on technique carried out by physical therapists to treat a wide range of conditions and symptoms. It is a safe, effective, and painless procedure used in conjunction with an exercise program or pain-relieving modalities (ultrasound or electrical stimulation) to address pain, stiffness, or range of motion limitations.
This article describes the different techniques of manual therapy El Paso, TX, and where they are used.
An Overview of Manual Therapy
Manual therapy is also known as hands-on therapy, as certified and licensed practitioners use their hands to manipulate the joints, stretch a muscle, or massage a body part to assess, diagnose, and treat a specific condition and promote relief.
Physical therapists prefer to use manual therapy El Paso, TX, to decrease pain, improve range of motion in an affected joint, increase the flexibility of a muscle, or relax specific muscle groups. The procedure is often performed when the patient experiences an increased pain level with limited movements.
When the movement improves and symptoms decrease, physical therapists combine manual therapy with more active techniques, like strengthening exercises or balance training, leading to a faster recovery.
Different Techniques of Manual Therapy and What Are They Used For
Highly skilled and trained manual therapists use their hands to assess and diagnose the muscles and connecting tissues in order to evaluate the reason for pain and limitations in the patients’ bodies. Depending on the diagnosis results, they utilize the following types of manual therapy El Paso TX techniques.
1) Soft Tissue Mobilization
Soft tissue mobilization is a manual technique used to manipulate the muscles and soft tissues to relax muscle tension, promote healing, and break down scar tissue.
Physical therapists use their hands to apply rhythmic stretching and deep pressure to the affected muscle structure to assess and locate the restricted areas, then mobilize these areas to break the scar tissue.
It also helps remove waste products from the damaged area and speeds up the recovery process. It improves flexibility and range of movement by relieving the tension in the muscles.
Soft tissue mobilization is used to treat various conditions, including carpal tunnel syndrome, whiplash, fibromyalgia, sciatica, arthritis, muscle injury, and muscle spasm.
2) Massage Therapy
Massage is one of the manual techniques carried out by certified therapists to reduce muscle tension and promote healing. Different forms of massage exist, but the most common one is the deep friction massage that is performed after an injury by applying pressure deep into the muscle to relieve tension and speed up recovery.
Following an injury, the muscles are damaged, and the formation of scar tissues occurs as part of healing, thus reducing flexibility. The deep friction massage technique increases blood flow to the affected area, relaxes the muscle, and breaks down scar tissue, thus allowing increased muscle movement.
Massage is used to treat various problems, including muscular injuries, muscle tightness, contractures, scar tissue, and osteoarthritis.
3) Joint Mobilization
Joint mobilization is the application of skilled forces to move the joint in the appropriate direction to improve its mobility and control pain. This procedure can be carried out to any joint that lacks enough motion, including the neck, upper, middle, and lower back, sacroiliac joints, and the joints in the shoulder, wrist, hand, hip, knee, foot, and ankle.
During the treatment, the patient is placed in a comfortable and relaxed position, and the practitioner uses his hands to localize the joints. Then he will apply force in the desired direction. This technique normalizes joint function, decreases pain and stiffness, and reduces muscle spasms and tension. It is used to treat back pain, neck pain, and other painful conditions that cause joint stiffness and a limited range of motion.
4) Myofascial Release
Myofascial release is the use of gentle pressure that stretches and elongates the muscles and fascia to release muscle tension and break up scar tissue. Physical therapists assess, identify, and locate the tight and stiff areas that cause pain and then apply gentle pressure to these trigger points and stretch them.
The practitioner may perform the stretching technique several times until the tightness is released. The myofascial release method allows muscles to relax and also helps to break up scar tissue resulting from overused or injured muscles. It helps maintain flexibility and range of movement, thus preventing future injuries.
Myofascial release effectively treats fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, whiplash, chronic headaches, migraines, carpal tunnel syndrome, and back pain.
5) Traction
Traction is a manual therapy El Paso TX, in which the physical therapists manually stretch the spine to reduce pressure on the affected vertebral discs that are causing pain. When a disc is under pressure and damaged due to an injury, it compresses nearby nerves and causes pain.
By performing traction, the practitioners pull the vertebra away from the disc, thus releasing the pressure on the disc and relieving pain. Traction is most commonly used to treat a herniated disc, sciatica, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, and neck pain.
Final Thoughts
Manual therapy is a safe and effective physical therapy method that treats various conditions and injuries to relieve pain and improve mobility. It is performed by highly skilled and trained therapists or practitioners. This method induces relaxation, improves function, and minimizes swelling and restrictions.
