Manipulative therapy in rehabilitation of the locomotor system

This book is the updated English version (not a mere translation) of a textbook which appeared successively in Czech,in German, in Bulgarian, in Dutch and in Polish. This English version is shorter, more concise and includes the latest techniques. The role of manipulation is limited to passive mobility and an important part of this book deals with active mobility. The author emphasizes that this is a textbook and not a manual of techniques: the latter deals with individual techniques, while his purpose is to show that it can be disastrous to confine one's interest in this manner and to remain unaware of both the broader context of treatment and of the possible alternatives. There are chapters on functional anatomy, the diagnosis and treatment of disturbed locomotor system function, including indications of appropriate treatment and the place of manipulation, and finally a long chapter on the clinical aspects of impaired function of the locomotor system. The book begins by discussing the major role played by impaired function in the vast majority of patients suffering from pain arising in the locomotor system. This type of pain is altogether the most frequent from which patients suffer, and the first two chapters of this book are mainly concerned with the origin of this pain. It is traditionally associated with rheumatism, but unfortunately rheumatologists are insufficiently aware of locomotor function and leave this field largely to neurologists and orthopaedic surgeons. The author believes that the speciality which is principally concerned with impaired function and its restoration to normal is rehabiliation medicine, a term which includes physical therapy, and it is in this framework that the future of manipulation lies. This will continue to be the case until, one day, a new speciality is established, one which deals with the whole of the locomotor system and in particular with its function. Ideally, it should be called "Musculo-skeletal Medicine".