Manual Therapy

A hands-on approach to resolving neuro-muscular problems

 

Many patients arrive at their first physical therapy appointment expecting to receive hot packs, ultrasound and instructions on how to complete a series of exercises. However, at Source Physiotherapy we approach the restoration of function from a different perspective.

Manual Therapy

The core of our approach is the utilization of manual therapy. This is a specialized area of physical therapy for the management of neuro-muscular conditions. As the term “manual therapy” suggests, a “hands-on” approach is taken.

The technique allows a problem with the spine, for example, to be mobilized and treated locally and separately. Manual techniques can also be used directly on joints such as the hip, knee and shoulder, allowing movement restrictions and pain to be positively influenced.

Manual Therapy Can Help With…

  • back and disc complaints

  • neck and cervical spine problems

  • arthritis in the hip, knee or spine

  • facial pain, headaches and mandibular problems

  • nerve irritation such as hands “falling asleep”

  • sciatica

  • knee pain (e.g. as a result of a ligament injury or meniscus damage)

  • elbow problems, such as tennis elbow

  • complaints relating to the hand, (e.g. as a result of a fracture or carpal tunnel syndrome)

  • foot problems, e.g. following a torn ligament

  • Manual Therapy can also help with treatment following an operation or sports injury

  • workplace design and advice relating to sports activities and movement analyses.

“We, at Source Physiotherapy, are taught to place YOU and YOUR main problems at the centre of everything that we will do or say”
— Manos Lagogiannis, Lead Therapist

The Maitland Concept

At Source Physiotherapy, we specifically use an approach to Manual Therapy called The Maitland Concept. This is a patient-driven model which embraces a personal commitment to understand what the patient is enduring.

  • Geoffrey D Maitland, an Australian physiotherapist and co-founder of the IFOMT (International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapists), developed this special treatment concept in the 1950s. He was also the founding member and the first President of IMTA.

    As defined by the International Maitland Teachers Association (IMTA), the Maitland concept relates to manual therapy in the initial and ongoing treatment of functional disorders in the joint, muscle, and nervous system. The use of Maitland Concept techniques is based on clinical reasoning and also takes the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) into account.

    The Maitland Concept uses a patient-driven model, which embraces a personal commitment to understand what the patient is enduring. We, at B. More Physical Therapy, are taught to place YOU and YOUR main problems at the centre of everything that we will do or say. Your body's capacity to give information about how it is affected by these problems (symptoms, activity limitations, etc.) is the key to the planning, selection and progression of our physiotherapy intervention. Being totally non-judgmental at all times, we actively listen to YOU and believe that everything we are told is true.  ‘’It is sad to hear patients say that their doctor or physiotherapist does not listen to them, or listen carefully enough, or listen sensitively enough when they want to discuss their disorder’’. After all, there are fine details of information which YOUR body can tell YOU and WE as clinicians cannot know about unless YOU are encouraged to talk about these trivia.

    A precise physical examination is then conducted to determine the reason for your problems. Examination of a shoulder problem might also lead to an examination of your cervical spine, ribs and thoracic spine. The examination will take specific account of your problem, especially with regard to its intensity.

    Ongoing treatment is specifically based upon this examination. The problems we detect are treated using specially selected methods, Including, for example:

    • manual joint mobilization

    • techniques designed to achieve better flexibility of nerve tissue

    • muscle stretching and/or muscle strengthening

    • an explanation of the circumstances giving rise to the problem, in order to ensure that treatment remains successful in the longer term

    • training in day-to-day or specific sports-related movement sequences

    • home-based exercises and guidance on self-help.

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