Manual therapy encompasses a wide variety of “hands-on” techniques to assess, diagnose, and treat an injury. Manual therapy aims to restore joint mobility, decrease stiffness in joints, muscle and fascia, realign the body, release soft tissue structures, break up scar tissue, and restore normal length of tissues.
The various manual therapy techniques include joint glides or oscillations, traction, manipulation of certain joints, muscle energy techniques, soft tissue mobilization techniques including friction massage, trigger point and myofascial release, deep tissue or soft tissue massage, and manual stretching.