Manual Therapy Overview

Authors

Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Reading list

• Orthopaedic manual physical therapy: from art to evidence¹

Tips

Here is the current aspects of manual therapy I am currently working on:

• Dont shear as much, it will be more irritating
• You can strum and feel around for general examination, but for in depth palpation, use small surface area and sink in

Goal setting

The purpose of goal setting is to establish the client’s wants versus their needs, and identifying how their current behavior is not achieving these states².

Wants

Wants describe a client’s true goals². This could include aesthetic goals or even mimicking a person they aspire to be². Sometimes these goals are not realistic, but these are important to consider since this is how the client defines success².

Needs

Needs refer to the necessary behavior a client needs to achieve physical progress². Sometimes, a client’s needs do not align with their wants².

Understanding why the client is seeking help

“Includes establishing a timeline leading up to their current state. This timeline helps to uncover acute vs chronic injury. Curent complains and objective dysfunctions create a big picture of how the body is adjusting to its problems”

Acute

“Acute” refers to ongoing symptoms that have lasted < 1 month². When in the acute stage, the body is working to protect the concerning area².

Chronic

Chronic refers to ongoing symptoms that have lasted > 1 month². At this point, the body begins to “normalize” itself to the situation by creating compensatory movement patterns².

Injury timeline also impact treatment response timelines². In general, the longer the injury timeline, the greater the treatment response timeline and therefore the slower the recovery².

It is important to note that treatments are painful². To create a response, you must stress the system. Treatments must be aggressive to create a significant stress².

Note

For more info read these b project sections: :

1. Assessment
2. Treatment
3. Treatment response
4. Reassessment

Assessment

p23²

Treatment

p26²

Treatment response

p28²

Reassessment

p29²

Ending a table session

p29²

Inventory

Torso

Hip

Knee

Foot/ankle

Shoulder

Elbow/hand

Neck

1.

Wise CH, ed. Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy: From Art to Evidence. F.A. Davis Company; 2015.

2.

Jones B. B Project Physical Therapy Curriculum. b Project; 2025.