This broad-brush term covers a range of manual techniques used in the clinical assessment and treatment of a variety of common presenting pain issues.


What can you expect during a treatment?

A typical series of sessions comprises the following:

  • Taking a full case history from clients (the bulk of this is usually done within the first session)
    • What is causing you pain or discomfort?
    • What makes this pain better and worse?
    • Details of medical operations
    • History of accidents, scars, physical/emotional trauma
    • History of on-going/past medical pathologies
    • Current/past medications
    • Life style choices
    • Day-to-day running of the body
    • Stress levels at home and work
    • Sleeping patterns
    • Physical exercise
    • Dietary and eating habits
    • Typical movement/postural patterns
  • Performing a full functional assessment of the body: setting an initial baseline (done within first session)
    • Show me where it hurts or feels restricted
      • Bench marking existing pain: using a simple 0-10 number scale for pain
    • Assessing range of motion of joints
    • Muscle tone/tightness
    • Neurological strength assessment
    • Balance assessment
    • Movement assessment
    • Relationships between weak or strong muscle groups, spinal rotation, and joint compression
  • Analysing the results and putting together a logical treatment pathway aimed at improving baseline measurements (performed within the first session and reviewed regularly against baseline)
    • Working with clients over regular weekly/monthly sessions to reduce pain and optimise core function
    • Providing clients with self-care homework, which mimics the work we do together in clinic
    • Reviewing progress regularly to understand positive/negative impacts and changes
    • Addressing new pain manifestations, dealing with underlying/root musculoskeletal dysfunction
    • Moving clients towards maintenance sessions every 4-6 weeks
  • Hands-on work during the treatment may come in variety of forms:
    • Informed/listening touch: initial treatment begins with a soft listening touch, focusing on feedback from the client in areas of tightness and acute pain
    • Trigger point therapy: working with the client to establish hot-spots of pain, applying compression techniques and awaiting change in pain response
    • Myofascial release: using slow varied Myofascial techniques to release and stretch soft tissue
    • Soft tissue release: A combination of tissue manipulation and movement (stretching) in a specific way releases trauma and micro traumas in muscles and re-educates the nervous system. This precise technique tricks the nervous system and re-sets the muscles memory effectively restoring correct length and tone
    • Table acupressure: incorporating body-weight driven table Shiatsu to mobilise larger areas under stress/tension
    • Sports stretching: working with the client to provide slow deep stretches of limbs/muscles
    • Muscle energy techniques: emerged as a form of osteopathic manipulative diagnosis and treatment in which the patient’s muscles are actively used on request, from a precisely controlled position, in a specific direction, and against a distinctly executed physician counter force