PHYSIOTHERAPY AND MANUAL THERAPY

Manual therapy 

Physiotherapy involves two different treatments: manual or instrumental.

There manual therapy It's a technique used by a specialized professional, not just anyone. The term "manual therapy" is often used improperly. Today, physiotherapy worldwide has firmly established this definition within its specialties, creating a new profession in the field of rehabilitation. An international organization defines clear and precise guidelines, aimed at helping patients resolve problems that until now have been treated with machines or drugs, without truly understanding their cause.

Physiotherapy, like all medicine, has the duty to continually improve, update itself and question what was previously absolute, allowing the professional to have many more tools and broaden their range of therapeutic choices.

The manual therapist

The IFOMT (International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists) is the organization that regulates and clarifies the requirements universities must meet to accredit the title of OMT manual therapist. Therefore, manual therapy is performed by a professional who, in addition to a university education, has completed a master's degree and obtained the certification as a "manual therapist."
Manual therapists have been trained to assess the patient holistically, thus aiming to understand the bio-psycho-social aspects of the person.

Patient assessment

For the manual therapist, the patient's clinical picture takes into account feelings and emotions that can influence their health. Therefore, they use a methodology capable of recognizing and collecting clinical data through rigorous, evidence-based reasoning. The goal is to achieve high-quality therapeutic solutions and greater clinical appropriateness. 

Manual techniques

Following the collection of the clinical data obtained, the therapist can develop hypotheses, implementing a series of intervention strategies that apply what are the "manual techniques”: MASSAGE THERAPY, AESTHETIC LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE, MEZIERES POSTURAL GYMNASTICS, SOUCHARD POSTURAL GYMNASTICS, KINESIO, TAPING, PILATES, YOGA, THERAPEUTIC LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE, FUNCTIONAL BANDAGES, KINESIOTHERAPY, REIKI, ATHLETIC TRAINING. Through mobilizations, manipulations, or even specific physical exercises, the manual therapist manages the problem that afflicts the person.

In the complexity of medicine and the human body, the manual therapist is able to develop a decision-making process, following a careful personal evaluation that other professionals do not implement.

Manual therapy has the task of acquiring a professional and above all unequivocal vision of the problem. The manual therapist has very serious guidelines, which must lead to a responsible assessment of the patient and the problem afflicting them. A method must be researched and found that can help them in the long term, in the most natural way possible. It aims to solve the problem and not just reduce the symptom.

If medicine aimed to listen and understand patients' true needs, it would be easier to find cures and help people as a whole.