Top 5 Fridays! 5 Currently Recommended Texts | Modern Manual Therapy Blog - Manual Therapy, Videos, Neurodynamics, Podcasts, Research Reviews

Top 5 Fridays! 5 Currently Recommended Texts


After recommending 5 courses, I received a request for 5 texts I would recommend. Here they are in no particular order (except the first)

1) Therapeutic Neuroscience Education
  • Seriously, I recommend both the course and this text almost any time I recommend anything you should learn
  • this is THE definitive resource on Pain Science Education right now and it's a game changer if you have no formal exposure or training
  • explaining the nature of pain empowers the patient and reduces perceived threat, better than any exercise, movement, or manual treatment in your toolbox, period
  • whether you run, or treat runners, you need to read this by PT and running researcher, Jay Dicharry
  • it's very practical, easy to understand, and helps you understand why there is no one size fits all shoe, running style, etc
  • there are also assessments and exercises recommended after all the anatomy, theory, and research review

  • take modern Pain Science, add it movement and mechanisms of manual therapy, and you have one of my favorite texts in years, via Todd Hargrove
  • read my review here

  • want to eliminate threat and treat functional movements or in WB positions? Mulligan's text, now in it's 6th edition is the perfect way
  • the various mobilizations and different treatments should perfectly compliment whatever system you are using to get people moving and feeling better
  • the rules of it should cause no pain, and move on to another Tx if no change after 3 sets or so are good rules for any Tx
  • there is something for every spinal and extremity patient in this text, plus it's cheap and immediately applicable


  • breathing assessments are done on my patients who are not responding as rapidly as I would expect
  • this text gives a great review of the physiology of breathing pattern disorders, and how it would be relevant to you as a clinician, and what it means for the patient
  • I think most clincians could use a better physiologic understanding of overbreathing, and how it could affect any system in the body
  • in fact, the author, Leon Chaitow has at least 10 Capnotrainers, my preferred device for objectively measuring overbreathing


Of course, honorable mention goes to all the MDT texts, which form an extremely rational and scientific way to assess and treat the spine and extremities. Any of these texts would make a great gift as well to a clinician looking for more answers. Note, the above are amazon affiliate links, please consider supporting The Manual Therapist by using these links if you plan on getting yourself or someone else a copy of the above highly recommended texts.


Keeping it Eclectic....

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