Manual therapy (massage, joint mobilisation and manipulation) has coped a lot of flack recently for having minimal to no benefits in the management of musculoskeletal pain.
A recent article from Geri et al 2019 from Musculoskeletal Science and Practice journal investigated this further:
- “Hands on techniques offer the patient the chance to discriminate between safe and threatening stimuli, promoting the conscious perception of an intact body. Realising that the body is not damaged, nor threatened this reduces anxiety, avoidance and defensive responses”
- “Clinicians need to remember that manual techniques are NOT tools to FIX the patient’s body, rather they provide the opportunity to communicate with the patient’s brain similar to words”
It’s the combination of manual therapy followed with targeted exercises aimed at changing the movement pattern, which helps a person feel less threatened to move and thus reducing pain.
At Trident Movement we aim to get an accurate diagnosis, explain what’s going on and provide treatment / exercises which are specific to you.
