How hands-on physical therapy helps reduce pain and stiffness

Pain in the knees when walking the dog. Shoulder pain when putting the dishes away. Elbow pain when playing tennis. These are just a few of the types of pain people can experience. 

In fact, pain is one of the most common problems that the average person faces; it’s estimated that 67 million Americans will be living with arthritis pain by 2025. Physical therapists can help people reduce pain from many sources. They can also help decrease the stiffness that also occurs with pain. One of the most common treatment options therapy specialists use to treat pain and stiffness is hands-on therapy. 

What is hands-on therapy?

Hands-on therapy is the common name for what physical therapists call manual therapy. This is a category of therapy techniques designed to mobilize and manipulate soft tissue and joints. These goals are accomplished by the physical therapist applying pressure with their hands. 

Some of the most common types of manual therapy include: 

• Soft tissue mobilization
• Joint mobilization
• Muscle energy techniques
• Strain-counterstrain

How do hands-on therapy methods help reduce pain and stiffness?

There are many reasons that manual therapy techniques can help reduce pain and stiffness. But there are three reasons in particular that these therapy methods are so effective: 

1. They relax soft tissue — Soft tissue includes muscles, ligaments, tendons and fascia. The pressure applied by your physical therapist during a manual therapy session is intended to relax this soft tissue. This can help them move more freely, which can decrease pain. 

2. They can realign joints — Tight muscles can pull a joint out of alignment. This can lead to pain and less freedom of movement. Manual therapy can reduce the tension in muscles, which can improve your ability to move joints normally. The realignment can also help decrease the pain you’re feeling and increase the lubricating fluid in your joints. 

3. They can break down scar tissue — Scar tissue, or adhesions, typically forms at the site of soft tissue injuries. These adhesions can make it harder for the tissue to move normally, leading to pain even after the injury has healed. With manual therapy, your physical therapist applies pressure to adhesions. This pressure can help break down the scar tissue and improve mobility. 

Advent Physical Therapy offers effective hands-on physical therapy

Ready to see if hands-on physical therapy can help reduce your pain and stiffness? Our Advent Physical Therapy team can help you reap the benefits of this and other types of physical therapy. We’ll start by performing a complimentary screening to pinpoint the source of your symptoms. Then, our physical therapy team will construct an individualized therapy plan for you that can include manual therapy and other techniques like: 

• Dry needling
• Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM)
• Therapeutic exercises
• At-home care
• Virtual therapy

Contact our team today for more information about all our beneficial therapy services or to schedule an initial appointment.