Benefits of Your Manual Therapy

The holidays are a time to relax and enjoy family. They’re a great opportunity to spend extra time with the people you care about, as well as to be thankful for what you already have. Unfortunately, pain has a habit of getting in the way of these things. It can make doing just about anything difficult, and ruin a holiday visit. Whether it’s in your back, neck, limbs, or other joints, pain can really inhibit you. This year, consider giving yourself a holiday from pain through manual therapy. It has many benefits for your body, including helping you get back to the life you love.

First, a quick definition: manual therapy is a type of physical therapy that uses a therapist’s hands and gentle manipulation or mobilization to alleviate pain, relax muscles, and improve flexibility in your body. Often it can involve some type of massage and readjusting joints or bones through careful movement. Here are a few of the main benefits of treating your pain with this type of therapy:

• Relaxation – Applying pressure to tightened tissues can help them relax and alleviate tension and discomfort.
• Flexibility – Manipulating joints can help keep the area from becoming stiff or losing your range of motion. In many cases, this can even help improve it.
• Alignment adjustments – Many times pain is from muscles or bones not being properly aligned. By adjusting and manipulating them correctly, you can restore them and alleviate discomfort.

There are other benefits as well. Working your muscles and soft tissues this way helps improve circulation to the affected areas. Keeping your tissues stretched and flexible can combat scar tissue formation, and possibly break it down. These benefits are still being studied, however.