Manual Therapy
At GOfit manual therapy is physical therapy. For us the two are mutually inclusive and cannot be separated.
What is Manual Therapy?
In the physical therapy community, manual therapy is considered a specialty area.
The term “manual therapy” represents the use of the physical therapists hands in a skilled and specific manner to create an effect on a patient’s joints, muscles, or skin.
Manual therapy is not massage. But a part of manual therapy does include treating a patient’s muscles to reduce trigger points, eliminate restrictions, and improve muscle balance.
The “massage” that we perform is specific to the condition that is being treated and it may involve you performing an active movement along with the therapist’s hands to improve muscle function.
If you want to eliminate pain and improve movement patterns so your pain does not return, manual therapy can help. See us!
Along with improving muscle function, manual therapy is used to improve joint mobility throughout the entire body. Highly specific mobilizations and manipulations are used at various joints to improve joint range of motion.
Manual therapy can also be used to improve fascial and neural mobility, along with muscle activation and timing.
Of course all the improvements in muscle and joint function will be for nothing if the brain is not retrained appropriately.
That is why specific exercise is so vital after manual therapy to retrain your brain and body. This way you are able to use the new gains made in mobility, flexibility, and strength (yes, strength is increased through increased neuromuscular coordination!) to help improve your movement patterns in every day life.
Manual therapy combined with specific exercise is what helps you get back to pain-free living!
Manual Therapy is Special:
It is not just the use of hands on techniques that make manual therapy a specialty area. It is the clinical reasoning that makes manual therapy so special.
The best hands in the world will never be able to replace the best brain in the world. It takes a strong understanding of human movement to identify the real cause of pain.
Think back pain can only be caused from problems in the back? Think again. Back pain can be caused by problems in the hip, knee, ankle, and foot for starters. It is this understanding of human movement that makes manual therapy so special.
The therapists at GOfit Physical Therapy are included in the top 1% of physical therapists in the nation, having more training in manual therapy than 99% of physical therapists. Learn more
This sets us apart to help give you an accurate diagnosis, detailed recovery plan, and specific recovery timeframe to help speed-up your recovery.
If you want the best possible outcome schedule an appointment with an expert manual therapist, like us!
Manual Therapy is Just the Beginning:
Manual therapy is a piece of the puzzle. For some it can be a big piece of the puzzle, for others a small one.
That’s why finding the root cause of a patient’s problem is essential. There will never be a one size fits all approach to each patient or condition. That is why GOfit is so special.
Manual Therapy Certifications Held by GOfit Therapists
COMT - Certified Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapist
CMTPT - Certified Manual Trigger Point Therapist (Dry Needling Certified)
FAAOMPT - Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists