Manual Therapy tactics and strategies have foundationally evolved since I went into practice in the 1980’s. In the past 15 years, the underlying mechanisms of efficacy in manual techniques have been firmly established. Having followed this evolution I have reached a point in my practice where I simply use the framework discussed in the video link below, and the tensegrity model.
TENSEGRITY
The tensegrity within a living system model states that the connective tissue matrix is a collection of nodes where the sum of the compressional and tensional (stress/strain) connections at each node will tend to sum to zero. If there are nodes in the matrix where this is not the case, as when we initiate a movement, the matrix will self-adjust to maximally distribute the load – zeroing the nodes.
Manual Therapy, from these perspectives, can be described as any manipulation of the structure that further maximizes the function of tensegrity mechanics within the connective tissue matrix.
Discussion of Tensegrity and the Connective Tissue Matrix can be found in this category of blog posts:
TENSEGRITY AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE