Manual Therapy

If you’re at a patient here at Back Bay Health & Performance you know we are stingy about using manual therapy. What you might not know is that we’ve done it all… We’ve got graston tools, gausha tools and rock blades. We’ve got KT tape, rock tape and good old fashion athletic tape. We’ve got cups of all sizes, foam rollers, tiger tails and more. If you’re into getting zapped, we have TENS too.

We’ve taken all the courses, from myofascial release to active release, from PNF to PIR and DTM, logan technique, sacrocranial technique, and nimmo (does any one even take nimmo anymore?). And of course we are chiropractors, so we know a thing or two about adjustments.

At this point you might be wondering… If we have spent SO much time (and money) learning these manual therapy modalities, why don’t we utilize these therapies with every single patient?

It’s Simple... we are not motivated by what’s cool, or what’s popular, or what worked for your friend, or even what we’ve done in the past. We are motivated by what works. What works for you. And what works for the long term.

There has been a great deal of research done on the benefits (or lack there of) of these different types of manual therapies. In truth, the mechanism for why these techniques are effective at all is not completely understood. The benefits of manual therapy are likely due to their effect on the brain/nervous system rather than the tissues themselves ie: muscles, tendons, fascia, etc. There is a significant psychological component as well that we’ll talk more about in a follow up post.

In short, we don’t rely heavily on manual therapy. What we do try to focus on are improving qualities that are proven in research to be highly effective AND have a long lasting effect. Qualities such as movement variability, strength, conditioning, balance, awareness, mind set, prioritizing sleep and diet, and reframing the thought process around pain or injury.