Manual Therapy Overview

Authors
Affiliations

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

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.

Citation

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