Manual therapy creates the conditions for normal movement.
Manual therapy can bring about a change in body awareness and influence how the nervous system reacts to movement. These changes open a window for movement to become normalised and trainable.
In movement impairments, the nervous system protects the body in anticipation and outside of awareness. In this case, voluntary movement repeats the movement pattern that avoids the movement impairment. Properly defined and targeted manual therapy can unwind the nervous system's anticipatory protective mechanism and restore natural movement variation. In this way, manual therapy restores and optimises trainability. When trainability is good, the body and nervous system are able to adapt to loading and recover from it. Trainability is a prerequisite for progressive training.
Movement impairments are identified by careful clinical and manual examination. Often, it is only through examination that the rehabilitator becomes aware of movement impairments. By becoming aware, the rehabilitee recognises the link between prevailing loading patterns and bodily sensations (symptoms). Releasing movement impairments through manual therapy changes mobility, internal body sensation, movement awareness, nervous system response to movement and movement patterns.
At Helsingin Fysioterapiaklinikka, manual therapy is used to relieve movement impairments where the avoidance and anticipatory protective mechanisms of the nervous system prevent normal movement. Manual therapy is always supported by therapeutic exercise.