Eclectic STM Day 1 | Modern Manual Therapy Blog - Manual Therapy, Videos, Neurodynamics, Podcasts, Research Reviews

Eclectic STM Day 1

Working on some cervical DNs
Day 1 of my first international course in London, ON went great! Mostly physio's, a few MTs and 1 DC.


The course was held at Body Mechanics in London, ON. There were several Canadian Fellows in attendance. I can safely say this is one of the best group of clinics in London! I can also say this because they are not allowed to advertise being a specialist in orthopaedics, manual therapy, or even that they are fellows. Chiro's and other professions can, but not physio's. Weird! So there, I said it because I can, and they cannot!

My first course with all three disciplines! They all seemed intrigued and were all happy to hear of neurophysiologic mechanisms of manual therapy and the importance of end range. Normally, I get more hand raises, and a bit of debate, but this time it was mostly "that makes sense." Must be the way it's presented. When you're not an ass about it, people tend to listen.
How NOT to palpate and release! - No thumbs!

They appreciated the SFMA as well! One participant told me she had a "fixated" thoracic spine and would not be able to roll. So we tested it, she definitely had dysfunctional rolling to the left and right in the lower. Since I didn't take a history or do breakouts to lead me to that, I checked her thoracic rotation in lumbar lock. FN to the right passively, DN to the left. Very similar to her MSR. Then she tells me she has a Harrington Rod. Boo! Intentional deception by the patient! Yeah, that's a fixation! Now I am more worried she was FN to the right! Day 2 review coming up! Here's an interesting video about tone and neurophysiologics that goes well with why I use the EDGE on the masseter more than my hands now.



Much of the lecture portion of the course was learning about neurophysiologic mechanisms in manual therapy and the above example was a great demonstration. Several other clinicians came over and experiences the same thing. This dysfunctional response to touch was not quite captured just how large the area our fingertips were "snapping" over, the area that the massage therapist we were palpating called her trigger points. This area was about 5% with much greater force when using the EDGE. Interesting stuff! What is your take?

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