Tag: mobilization

Manual Therapy

Does manual therapy have a place? Manual therapy is one of the more polarizing topics in the movement world, and no doubt you might wonder if this modality is efficacious for improving pain and/or movement. The evidence on manual therapy in isolation is mixed, but perhaps the modality itself is not the problem. Perhaps the problem is not having a model that can explain the utility of manual therapy, when to use it, and why. With a decision-making model, manual therapy is something that can most definitely fit within the interventions you like. Ready to see how manual therapy can be best applied for your supreme clientele? Then check out Movement Debrief Episode 139 below!

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The Ultimate Guide to Treating Ankle Sprains

A Humdinger No Doubt Ankle sprains. Such a bugger to deal with. Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries seen in basketball. The cutting, jumping, contact, fatigue, and poor footwear certainly don’t help matters. Damn near almost every game someone tweaks an ankle. Treating ankle sprains in-game provides quite a different perspective. Rarely in the clinic do we work with someone immediately post-injury. Instead, we deal with the cumulative effects of delayed treatment: acquired impairments, altered movement strategies, and reduced fitness. The pressure is lower and the pace is slower. You shed that mindset with the game on the line. You must do all in your power to get that player back on the court tonight, expediting the return process to the nth degree. I had a problem. Figuring out the most efficient way to treat an ankle sprain was needed to help our team succeed. I searched the literature, therapeutic outskirts, and tinkered in order to devise an effective protocol. The result? We had 12 ankle sprains this past season. After performing the protocol, eight were able to return and finish out the game. Out of the remaining four, three returned to full play in two days. The last guy? He was released two days after his last game. It’s a tough business. The best part was we had no re-sprains. An impressive feat considering the 80% recurrence rate¹.    Caveats aside, treating acute injuries with an aggressive mindset can be immensely effective. Here’s how.

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Manual Therapy Musings

When I think About You… Prompted by some mentee questions and blog comments, I wondered where manual therapy fits in the rehab process. To satisfy my curiosity, I calculated how much time I spend performing manual interventions. Looking at last month’s patient numbers to acquire data, I found these numbers based on billing one patient every 45 minutes (subtracting out evals and reassessments): Nonmanual (including exercise and education) = 80% Manual = 20% Modalities = 0%!!!!!!!!!!!! Delving a bit further, here’s my time spent using PRI manual techniques versus my other manual therapy skill-set: PRI manual = 14% Other manual = 6% As you can see, I use manual therapy a ridiculously low amount; skills that I used to employ liberally with decent success There’s a reason for the shift I want my patients to independently improve at all cost and as quickly as possible. The learning process is the critical piece needed to create necessary neuroplastic change; and consequently a successful rehab program. Rarely is learning involved in manual therapy.

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Course Notes: Mobilisation of the Nervous System

I Have an Addiction It seems the more and more that I read the more and more and read the more and more addicted I become to appreciating the nervous system and all its glory. To satisfy this addiction, I took Mobilisation of the Nervous System with my good friend Bob Johnson of the NOI Group. This was the second time I have taken this course in a year’s span and got so much more value this time around. I think the reason for this enrichment has been the fact that I have taken many of their courses prior and that I prepared by reading all the NOI Group’s books. A course is meant to clarify and expand on what you have already read. So if you are not reading the coursework prior, you are not maximizing your learning experience. What made this course so much more meaningful was being surrounded by a group of like-minded and intelligent individuals. As many of you know, I learned much of my training through Bill Hartman. Myself, Bill, the brilliant Eric Oetter and Matt Nickerson, my good friend Scott, and my current intern Stephanie, all attended. When you surround yourself with folks smarter than you, the course understanding becomes much greater. This course was so much more with the above individuals, so thank you. Try to attend courses with like-minded folks. Here are the highlights of what I learned. If you would like a more in-depth explanation of these concepts, check out my

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