When you suffer from serious back, neck or other pain due to a car crash, sports or work injury, poor posture or something else, you have options as far as how you treat it.

Manual therapy is a fast-growing alternative to pain medications, surgery and other potential treatment options for acute or chronic pain, and it relies on hands-on techniques, rather than devices or machines, to help ease pain.  

When you undergo manual therapy, your treatment provider will use skilled hand movements to perform soft tissue work or encourage the mobilization and manipulation of your joints.

The soft tissue work involves applying pressure to your muscles and other soft tissues, while the mobilization and manipulation of your joints involves twisting or helping them into their intended positions. 

Many patients who experience acute or chronic back, joint or muscle pain cite the following reasons for trying manual therapy. 

1. It leads to enhanced range of motion

Manual therapy is an effective form of joint pain relief because it boosts flexibility and improves the range of motion for stiff joints or muscles. The process involves manipulating joints and soft tissues in a particular manner to enhance their elasticity and may improve outcomes if stretching fails to produce the desired results.

2. It reduces inflammation

Many different factors can lead to inflammation (swelling), redness or pain within the body that often develops due to an injury or infection. Stress, diet, sleep, family history and environmental factors are just a few of the variables that can cause inflammation.

Manual therapy helps fight inflammation by boosting your range of motion and encouraging better blood flow.

3. It helps relieve body aches and pains

Manual therapy uses a hands-on, rather than a surgical or medicinal, approach to combating pain and relieving body aches. Many patients with musculoskeletal disorders find that their pain levels dissipate substantially when they undergo this type of physical therapy. 

4. It alleviates symptoms associated with piriformis syndrome

If you suffer from piriformis syndrome, you may experience ongoing pain that starts in your glutes and then travels down your legs. This condition typically results from the piriformis muscles in your behind applying pressure on your sciatic nerve.

Though relatively uncommon, women are more likely to experience symtoms associated with piriformis syndrome than men. 

Manual therapy treatments that target this area seek to loosen and stretch the piriformis muscle to reduce pressure on the sciatic nerve, which in turn helps alleviate pain.

5. It reduces pain associated with a muscle strain

Manual therapy is also an effective means of relieving pain resulting from muscle strains. Muscle strain can develop from many different injury or lifestyle factors, and different manual therapy techniques can effectively target the root of your muscle pain to help relive it. 

In many cases, spinal or musculoskeletal pain and discomfort results from a lack of mobility or a limited range of motion.

Manual therapy relies on a practitioner’s hands, rather than medications, injections or technologies, to improve flexibility, mobility and posture. This, in turn, reduces pain and inflammation, leading to faster recovery times, enhanced range of motion and better overall outcomes for patients. 

Click here to learn more or schedule an appointment.