FOR EVERY MANIPULATION THERE IS AN EXERCISE...



Psoas counterstrain (WVSOM)

... that will have a more lasting impact on a person's life than any of my treatments. This blog will teach three types of exercises adapted from osteopathic manipulative treatments - positions of ease, myofascial stretches, and joint mobilizations.

Positions of ease are adapted from counterstrain and indirect techniques. In counterstrain, developed by Lawrence H. Jones, DO in the late 1950s, the patient is positioned to relieve tenderness, thereby triggering muscle relaxation that in turn results in improved mobility with less pain. 



Scapula myofascial release (WVSOM)



Indirect techniques date to Andrew Taylor Still, MD who founded osteopathic medicine in the late nineteenth century, and include myofascial release and functional techniques. The body is positioned away from its restricted motion in order to reduce tension and restore pain-free motion.

Thoracic muscle energy (WVSOM)

The myofascial stretches in this book are adapted from direct myofascial release and muscle energy techniques. These techniques reduce tension and restore motion by initiating tissue creep in response to a slow steady stretch. Creep is the process by which a tight tissue elongates in response to a gradual lengthening force. This tissue give can be interrupted by pain or muscle spasm so a myofascial stretch may need to be preceded by a position of ease. The net result of myofascial stretching is decreased pain and increased flexibility.







Lumbar thrust (not for home application)
(WVSOM)

Joint mobilizations play a special role in relief of pain and stiffness but also have unique risks that will be addressed in the next chapter.

The combination of positions of ease, myofascial stretches, and joint mobilizations can have a powerful role in healing. Most people with musculoskeletal pain are in the midst of a vicious cycle of spasm, restriction, and pain. Positions of ease relieve pain, myofascial stretches reduce spasm, and joint mobilizations restore motion to break this cycle.




Self administered manipulation interrupts the pain cycle (David R. Beatty, DO)