Manual Physical Therapy Las Vegas, Nevada

What is manual physical therapy?

Manual physical therapy is a specific form of physical therapy offered with the hands instead of a device or machine. Practitioners put pressure on muscle tissue with their hands and manipulate joints to reduce back pain. As a result, muscle tension, muscle spasms, and joint dysfunction will get better.

Acute and Chronic Back Pain relief

Manual therapy is useful to treat joints that lack suitable mobility and have certain musculoskeletal conditions. The mobility limitations can cause:

• Discomfort
• Pain
• Alteration in posture, function, and movement

Manual physical therapy involves reducing muscle tension to help the patient get back to a natural way of movement without pain. In addition, manual physical therapy might cause back pain relief for patients who suffer from:

• Joint problems, like sacroiliac joint dysfunction
• Acute back pain from soft tissue injuries like back muscle strain

Although further clinical studies should be performed on all manual therapy areas, limited clinical data and patient reports prove that manual physical therapy can be practical in relieving back pain.

What Issues Can Manual Therapy Treat?

Manual therapy is usually performed for issues that stem from the spine, like acute and chronic back pain. But, the technique can be done to treat a wide range of issues. For instance:

• Neck pain
• Hand, wrist, elbow, or shoulder problems
• Neck injuries
• Accident-caused injuries
• Hip, knee, ankle, or foot problems
• Muscle spasms/ tension
• Work-related injuries

Specialized Manual Therapy Techniques

Before beginning any manual therapy techniques, the therapist will normally perform an assessment of the patient’s body to ensure other complications won’t happen. For instance:

• Bones
• Muscles
• Blood and nerve supply

On the basis of assessment results, the physical therapist may choose other techniques that include, but are not limited to, the elements below.

Soft Tissue Mobilization

It is often used to split apart fibrous muscle tissue and relax muscle tension. Namely, a therapist may implement soft tissue mobilization around scar tissue which stems from a back injury. This technique consists of repeated stretching and pressure close to the target musculature.

Joint Mobilization

It is used to loosen a restricted joint so that the range of motion is increased. The painless technique consists of slowing the speed and distance of motion into the barrier of the painful joint. Joint mobilization usually brings about lasting relief from muscle pain. Resting and temporary icing can ease it because the issue stems from the joint itself.

Strain-Counterstrain

This technique concentrates on structural and postural issues, which are due to abnormal neuromuscular reflexes. This technique is performed in a gentle way. Therefore, therapists may prefer this technique instead of other painful procedures to treat delicate or acute back disorders.

Muscle Energy Techniques (METs)

METs use voluntary muscle contraction against a counterforce to move joints and lengthen muscles that are shortened. This technique is an active procedure where the operator does all the work. Muscle energy techniques are usually tolerated well by the patient and do not make the joint stressed.

What is integrative manual therapy?

Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT™) is a specific set of techniques, methodologies, and approaches that address pain, disease, dysfunction, and disability. IMT is defined as a health care process.

IMT provides a wide range of health care practices and achieves healing by considering the human body’s diverse systems, discovering dysfunction at the cellular level.

IMT practitioners use their hands in addition to other tools to diagnose and treat clients. IMT offers clients the opportunity to successfully pass the following levels:

• Healing
• Recovery
• Rehabilitation

This method is used as an alternative to invasive procedures or pharmaceutical methods.

What is osteopathic manual therapy?

Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment(OMT) is a set of techniques used by osteopathic physicians to diagnose, prevent, treat, and illness. The OMT enables the physician to move a patient’s muscles and joints by techniques the following techniques:

• Stretching
• Gentle pressure
• Resistance

Osteopathic physicians come by special training in the following fields:

• Musculoskeletal system
• The intricate system of muscles, bones, and nerves

This advanced training provides information about how the body’s systems are interconnected and affect each other reciprocally.

What is Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment?

OMT can help people of all ages. The treatment can be used to:

• Ease pain
• Promote healing
• Increase overall mobility

In addition to treating muscle pain, OMT also helps patients with other health problems such as:

• Asthma
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Sinus disorders
• Menstrual pain
• Migraines

Using the OMT, physicians manually apply a particular amount of pressure to different regions in the body. These techniques help you:

• Treat tissue abnormalities
• Restore muscle/tissue balance
• Relieve joint misalignment
• Promote the blood flow throughout the body

What does STM stand for in manual therapy?

Using stretching and deep pressure, Soft Tissue Mobilization (STM) can:

• Break up rigid muscle tissue
• Move trapped fluids in the inflated tissues
• Relax muscle tension

STM can treat soft tissue injuries such as muscle strains and sprains. It is considered a type of manual therapy.

STM benefits

Soft Tissue Mobilization has an extreme impact on:

• Relaxing tense muscles
• Improving range of motion
• Reducing scar tissue
• Stretching and lengthening the fascia

Soft Tissue Mobilization is used for the following disorders and injuries:

• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Ankle sprains
• Knee and hip pain
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Shoulder impingement

Types of Soft Tissue Mobilization

Stm has lots of types which includes:

Strain-Counterstrain

It uses passive positioning to relieve tissue, muscle, and joint tightness. Your physician will identify pain points and hold the position from 90 seconds to 3 minutes.

Graston Technique

This Technique uses a steel tool to treat scar tissue. This technique leads to faster rehabilitation. Studies show the Graston technique is extremely helpful for low back pain, developing the range of motion.

ASTYM

This typical type of treatment uses a plastic tool to stimulate the breakdown of scar tissue, promoting regeneration and joint function. Scar tissue may cause:

• Muscle tension
• Limited flexibility
• Range of motion restrictions

ASTYM is a highly effective treatment for chronic tendonitis and bursitis as it reduces inflammation.

Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD)

This type of soft tissue mobilization uses manual movements along with anatomical lymph pathways which improve fluid circulation. This type of therapy is useful for:

• Headaches
• Migraines
• Swollen legs

And so many other disorders.

Manual traction

Manual traction is a practical type of manual therapy for patients who suffer from backache. This decompression therapy helps relieve spine tension.

It is an applied pressure that lasts for a few seconds, taking pressure off the lumbar discs and stretching the spine.

Trigger Point Therapy / Myofascial Release

It is a soft tissue manual therapy to treat immobility and chronic muscular pain. Myofascial release concentrates on easing the tension and tightness in the different areas of pain. It is also known as “deep tissue work”.

Cross friction

This type of manual therapy is to keep mobility within the soft tissue structures of the tendon, ligament, and muscle, preventing scars from forming. It is a specific deep tissue massage, applied transversely to the target location.

Cross friction massage is useful for reducing pain and regenerating connective tissue, influence the healing process.