Manual therapy

Manual therapy is a technique of manual manipulations of human body’s joints, muscles, and ligaments.

Manual therapist is a physician who treats by hand. Generally, any physician, who has taken advanced training courses with a specialization in manual therapy and learned special techniques, can become a manual therapist. However, it is established by Russian Federation low that only neuropathologists and orthopedists, in other words, specialists in musculoskeletal and nervous disorders treatment can take these courses.

What is the difference between vertebroneurologist and manual therapist?

Vertebrology is a body of knowledge about vertebral column diseases.

“Vertebroneurologist” is commonly referred to a physician qualified both in neurology (neuropathology) and orthopedics. This combination is essential for the conservative treatment of vertebral column diseases. The main symptom of these diseases is back pain.

Surgical treatment of vertebral column diseases is a field of work of orthopedists-vertebrologists and neurosurgeons-vertebrologists.

For vertebroneurologist, manual therapy is one of the treatment options. So the perfect choice will be a specialist who possesses the knowledge of vertebrology and the manual therapy skills.

Book: A Sketch-Book of a Manual Therapist or Haw to Get Rid of Back Pain under Your Own Power, at Least for a While.*

Author: Mikhail Aleksandrovich Korovkin**, vertebroneurologist-manual therapist, IMC ON CLINIC

Back pain can be diverse. It is often inexplicit, persistent, and unpredictable. Its causes are sometimes unclear, and a long-term elaborate search may be required to reveal them. The back pain is sometimes so intense or has such sources that it can not be resolved by means of manual therapy alone.

Taking this into account, at the vertebrology office of the IMC ON CLINIC the manual therapy is one of the therapeutic options available that offers the effective management of not only the back pain of different intensity, but also the pain from any other sources.

Our manual therapy course consists of no more than 10 sessions once, twice, or three times a week depending on particular indications. In cases of noncomplicated diseases (mild or moderate organic changes, infrequent acute conditions, prolonged remissions) 4-5 sessions may be sufficient. In case of evident pathology (intervertebral disks protrusions more than 10 mm, frequent acute pain, short remission, nerve trunk pain etc.) the course includes 8-10 sessions.

The drug therapy, including intramuscular or intravenous administration of vessel-strengthening drugs, vitamins, and relaxants, is combined with the manual therapy.

Massage as an adjunctive treatment option is added at the final stages of the therapy, when major metabolic disorders are resolved.