What Is Integrative Manual Therapy?
Integrative manual therapy is a therapeutic approach that involves working with all body systems and restoring the physical, functional, and psychological aspects through gentle touch. Diagnosis is also made through touching, and a treatment plan is based on dealing with symptoms of all systems in the body. Integrative manual therapy was developed by Dr. Sharon Giammatteo and has been an alternative technique to other medical interventions to treat a problem.
How Does It Work?
Integrative manual therapy uses gentle and non-invasive techniques to address pain, disease, dysfunction, and disability. They use manual techniques to treat the symptoms, and the whole body is focused and considered during the treatment phase. The cause of the disability is identified, and the natural physiologic function, along with structural integrity, is restored using integrative manual therapy. Integrative manual therapy uses diagnostic techniques that will help evaluate the tissue motion and locate abnormal areas where the normal motion is disorganized. The change in tissue motion can be assessed by the therapist with skilled touch. The therapist then evaluates the cause for the disorientation of tissue motion and formulates a treatment protocol. The therapist uses gentle hand techniques to put pressure on tissues and allow them to relax and relieve painful symptoms.
What Are the Types of Rehabilitation?
There are two types of rehabilitation achieved through integrative manual therapy. They are:
1. Structural Rehabilitation: Structural rehabilitation involves restoring the structural integrity of the body. Problems like joint mobility, flexibility, range of motion, muscle tone, and muscle control are treated. The abnormalities in anatomy are recorded in the nervous system, connective tissue system, lymphatic system, blood vessels, muscles, and other organs.
2. Functional Rehabilitation: Functional rehabilitation focuses on restoring the functional aspects of the patient. Functions like coordination, balance, proprioception, strength, hearing, vision, smell, behavior, and learning are restored through integrative manual therapy.
What Are the Indications?
The indications of integrative manual therapy are:
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Autism (a developmental disability affecting the ability to interact and communicate with others).
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Ankle sprains.
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Knee and neck pain.
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Headaches and migraine headaches.
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Irritable bowel syndrome.
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Spinal stenosis.
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Shoulder impingement.
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Rotator cuff problems.
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Tendonitis.
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Tennis elbow.
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TMJ (temporomandibular joint) dysfunction.
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Fractures.
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Parkinson’s disease (a disorder involving the central nervous system that impairs movement, often leading to tremors).
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Attention deficit disorder.
What Are the Various Techniques?
1. Osteopathic Manipulation: They include hands-on manipulation of the affected body parts to improve the health of the patient. It is a low-cost and non-invasive technique used for healing by targeting the affected system. It helps reduce pain and increase the range of motion and joint mobility. Along with it, the blood and lymphatic flow are also improved through osteopathic manipulation.
2. Muscle Energy Techniques: It is a manual procedure in which voluntary contractions of the muscle are brought about in the patient. Muscle energy techniques are used for treating joint dysfunctions and improving the range of motion in these joints. The therapist uses precisely controlled movements directed at varying levels of intensity. The muscle energy technique works to move the restrictive barrier that prevents movement in a particular direction.
3. Cranial Therapy: It is mostly applied to infants to relieve pressure and tension in the central nervous system. It has been used in adults to relieve asthma, migraine, and other headaches. A gentle touch is used as cranial therapy to bring about changes in the body, mind, and spirit. It helps restore and balance the central nervous system while releasing the effects of stress, trauma, and injury.
4. Strain Counter-Strain: Precise positions of the affected organ can help eliminate pain and disability in some painful postures. Tender points are found and pressed for more than 90 seconds to provide a sense of relief through muscle elongation and decompression of the joints. Articular balance, which is the relative normal position of the articular surfaces of a joint during physiologic movement, is improved. The range of motion is also increased.
5. Neural Tissue Technique: Neural tissue mobilization is a manipulative technique that moves and stretches the neural tissues by movement or tension. Adhesions and scar tissue can be stretched through this technique. This method depends on influencing pain through the manipulation of neural tissue and non-neural tissue surrounding the affected part.
6. Maitland Mobilization: This technique uses passive movements performed in an oscillatory manner within a range of motion where there is no pain, muscle spasm, or stiffness. This method also uses compression as a treatment protocol. After the treatment is completed, the patient tends to improve the range of motion of the affected joints.
7. Myofascial Release: The entire body is checked for symptoms like pain, spasms, and tightness. It is a safe and effective method that works on the fascia to release the restrictions. It is based on both massaging and stretching the skin, fascia, and muscles. It is done by applying prolonged static pressure to the restricted tissue to release and stretch the restricted parts of the fascia.
8. Visceral Mobilization: These are also gentle and safe treatment techniques applied to the visceral organs such as the heart, kidney, uterus, bladder, and colon. These visceral organs can be manipulated at least to some extent. Some of these organs may have restrictions that are caused due to surgeries, accidents, wounds, infections, and immobile joints and soft tissues. Visceral manipulation helps restore the form and function of the organs by relieving symptoms like pain, spasms, and tightness.
9. Muscle Rhythm Therapy: Muscle rhythm therapy is simple and uses palpation for treatment. Muscle is contracted using both hands of the therapist. The piston-like motion of the muscle is palpated, and there is supposed to be a muscle shortening phase and elongation phase. When there is a muscle spasm, the muscle will not shorten optimally during the shortening phase. This means that the muscle is in a protective muscle spasm, and the amplitude of shortening and elongation varies from that of a healthy muscle. Through this, mobilization can be planned.
What Are the Benefits?
The benefits of integrative manual therapy include:
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Mobility of the joints and soft tissues is restored through integrative manual therapy.
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It helps in relieving the abnormal restrictions in blood flow.
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Myofascial restrictions are relieved through integrative manual therapy.
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The structural, functional, and psychological health of the patient is restored.
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Structural abnormalities and misalignments can be corrected through this technique.
Conclusion
Integrative manual therapy is unique in its own features, and a wide variety of problems are addressed through this treatment. Most of the techniques deployed in integrative manual therapy are safe and useful for effective diagnosis and treatment. The application of hand pressure in different ways can help ease many disabling symptoms. Many patients have benefitted from this treatment, and in certain conditions, surgery can also be prevented using these methods.
