PhysiotherapyManual therapy
Physiotherapy deals with the extended treatment of muscular dysfunction. It attacks with its exercises where the limits of the self-exercises are reached in everyday life. The untrained patient is given the above-mentioned exercises by the physiotherapists for integration into everyday life.
In regular physiotherapeutic treatment modules, however, the muscles are trained even further: Here, training devices are often used, which are equipped with light weights to train the muscles in the back area accordingly.In addition to the classical physiotherapy, stimulation current applications can also be carried out to relax the muscles or heat and cold applications. Manual therapy involves special techniques to locate and assess a movement disorder in the spinal column. Afterwards the manual therapy begins, which is also called “mobilization” in physiotherapeutic terminology.
In addition to the cervical spine syndrome, this treatment technique is also used for head or jaw joints, joints of the arms and legs, and joints of the thorax and pelvis. There are three different techniques for manual therapy. The traction, the sliding technique and the stretching and relaxation technique.
In the traction technique, the therapist gently pulls the joint surfaces apart to loosen corresponding blockages in this area. In the gliding technique, two joint surfaces are moved parallel to each other by special handles. This results in greater joint freedom and the corresponding movement in this area can be performed more easily again.
The stretching and relaxation techniques ensure that the musculature returns to a state that is a prerequisite for pain-free movement. Not all techniques are equally suitable for the treatment. It is especially important that the contraindications are clarified by an orthopedic specialist.
For example, a traction technique can have devastating effects in case of a slipped disc in the cervical spine. First of all, it may even be necessary to confirm by means of an X-ray image that the use of physiotherapeutic measures is harmless. As soon as this has been clarified, regular physiotherapeutic exercises can be performed, which may also be paid for by the health insurance company.
