Maitland's Mobilisations
Original Editors - Scott Buxton
Top Contributors -Scott Buxton, Admin, Kim Jackson, Mariam Hashem, 127.0.0.1, Tony Lowe, Lucinda hampton, WikiSysop, Jacob Bischoff, Neil Tuttle, Rachael Lowe, Evan Thomas, Oyemi Sillo, Kai A. Sigel and Ilona Malkauskaite
What is Manual Therapy?[edit | edit source]
Manual therapy can be broadly defined as "the use of hands in a curative and healing manner or a hands-on technique with therapeutic intent"[1]. There is a wide range of disciplines which use manual therapeutic methods to treat and manage pathology and dysfunction as a primary treatment method or in conjunction with other treatments. Physiotherapists are sometimes considered specialists in manual therapy but other professions such as Osteopaths, Chiropractors and Nurses employ manual therapy in treatment. Manual therapy works through a multitude of different mechanisms to be effective and understanding the physiological, neurological and psychophysiological mechanisms is critical to utilising manual therapy clinically in a competent and safe manner[1].
From a Physiotherapy perspective manual therapy is an essential and commonly used treatment method for the management of tissue, joint and movement dysfunction. There are several different main stream approaches to manual therapy; arguably the most common form and simplistic form manual therapy used by physiotherapists are mobilisations, from the Maitland school of thought.
The Maitland Concept[edit | edit source]
Key Terms[edit | edit source]
- Accessory Movement - Accessory or joint play movements are joint movements which cannot be performed by the individual. These movements include roll, spin and slide which accompany physiological movements of a joint. The accessory movements are examined passively to assess range and symptom response in the open pack position of a joint. Understanding this idea of accessory movements and their dysfunction is essential to applying the Maitland concept clinically[2].
- Physiological Movement - The movements which can be achieved and performed actively by a person and can be analysed for quality and symptom response[2].
- Injuring Movement - Making the pain/symptoms 'come on' by moving the joint in a particular direction during the clinical assessment[2].
- Overpressure - Each joint has a passive range of movement which exceeds its available active range. To achieve this range a stretch is applied to the end of normal passive movement. This range nearly always has a degree of discomfort and assessment of dislocation or subluxation should be acquired during the subjective assessment[2].
