62 articles
Muscle energy technique
Muscle energy technique is a manual therapy in which a patient contracts a muscle against a practitioner's counterforce to mobilize joints, stretch muscles, and reduce pain.
Orthopedic Manipulation
Orthopedic manipulation is the controlled manual movement of the spine, extremities, and other musculoskeletal structures to increase motion, diagnose disease, reduce dislocations, or improve fracture alignment.
Osteopathic manipulative treatment
Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT), also known as osteopathic manipulative medicine, is hands-on treatment by osteopathic physicians using techniques like muscle energy and myofascial release to correct somatic dysfunction.
Passive stretching
Passive stretching is a flexibility technique in which a therapist, gravity, or a device lengthens muscles and moves joints without active effort, used in rehabilitation and sports medicine.
Perineal massage
Perineal massage is a technique in which the perineum is stretched with lubricated fingers from about 34 weeks of pregnancy, modestly reducing perineal trauma and episiotomy during vaginal birth.
Phonophoresis
Phonophoresis, also called sonophoresis, is a physical therapy technique that uses ultrasound to drive topical medication through the skin, used since the 1950s for pain and inflammation, especially knee osteoarthritis.
Physical Therapists
Physical therapists (physiotherapists) are licensed rehabilitation clinicians who assess and treat movement dysfunction with exercise, manual therapy, and modalities; US entry requires a DPT degree, with direct access self-referral and 10-plus board specialties.
Physical Therapy Modalities
Physical therapy modalities: MeSH-defined therapeutic techniques and physical agents (exercise therapy, TENS, ultrasound, shockwave, heat, cold, manipulation) used by physical therapists, with evidence, safety, and adherence data.
Physiotherapists
Physiotherapists (physical therapists) are rehabilitation professionals treating functional decline through exercise, manual therapy, and physical modalities; title adopted 1966, global body World Physiotherapy (founded 1951) represents 600,000+ members.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy, or physical therapy, is the healthcare profession developing, maintaining and restoring movement and functional ability. Covers its World Physiotherapy definition, 1894 CSP origins, global workforce of 600,000+, primary care integration, and Cochrane evidence on exercise, manual therapy, and stroke rehabilitation.
Ponseti method
The Ponseti method is a conservative treatment for congenital clubfoot, developed by Ignacio Ponseti, using serial plaster casts, Achilles tenotomy, and a foot-abduction brace worn for years.
Preoperative Exercise
Preoperative exercise (exercise-based prehabilitation): structured training before elective surgery to raise functional capacity. Pooled data from 99 RCTs show fewer complications (OR 0.54) and shorter stay; evidence certainty varies by surgery type.
Radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy
Radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT), also called EPAT, is a noninvasive therapy that delivers low-energy pressure waves from a pneumatic applicator to treat tendinopathies such as plantar fasciitis.
Recreation Therapy
Recreation therapy (therapeutic recreation, recreational therapy) is a health discipline using activity-based interventions to restore functioning and independence. Key facts: post-WWII origins, CTRS credential from NCTRC (1981), ATRA founded 1984, VA practice, growing outcome evidence.
Reflexotherapy
Reflexotherapy, a term also used for reflexology, is the treatment of a condition by producing a reflex action, such as stopping a nosebleed with ice applied to the cervical spine.
Rehabilitation of Speech and Language Disorders
Rehabilitation of speech and language disorders, also called speech and language therapy, helps people with speech or language disorders communicate; covers history, settings, evidence, and technology.
Rhythmic auditory stimulation
Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) is a standardized neurologic music therapy technique that cues movement with metronome pulses or music, improving gait in Parkinson's disease and stroke since the 1990s.
ROAR-MS trial
ROAR-MS (NCT05983809) is a randomized crossover pilot trial at Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS testing Hunova robotic balance rehabilitation, 4 weeks, 3 sessions weekly, in 24 MS patients aged 18-65 with EDSS 2-3, primary outcome Berg Balance Scale, completion May 2026.
Serial casting
Serial casting is a rehabilitation treatment in which successive casts progressively stretch a joint to increase range of motion, used mainly for contractures in cerebral palsy and spasticity.
Shiatsu
Shiatsu (指圧, "finger pressure") is a Japanese manual therapy in which practitioners apply sustained pressure and stretches to a clothed body; its clinical evidence remains limited.
Shock wave therapy
Shock wave therapy is a clinical treatment delivering short, high-amplitude acoustic pressure pulses into tissue to stimulate healing and reduce pain, used mainly for tendinopathy and plantar fasciitis.
Smell training
Smell training, also called olfactory training, is a rehabilitation therapy in which patients sniff a fixed set of odorants twice daily for months to recover lost smell.
Soft tissue therapy
Soft tissue therapy is a family of hands-on and instrument-assisted treatments targeting muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia, including massage, myofascial release, Rolfing, trigger point release, and IASTM.
Speech Therapy
Speech therapy: assessment and treatment of speech, language, and swallowing disorders by speech-language pathologists (SLPs), credentialed via ASHA's CCC-SLP; covers pediatric speech sound disorders, post-stroke aphasia and dysphagia, and telepractice delivery.
Spinal manipulation
Spinal manipulation is a hands-on therapy in which a practitioner applies a rapid thrust to a spinal joint beyond its natural range, used mainly for back and neck pain.
Spinal manipulative therapy
Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is a hands-on treatment applying controlled forces to spinal joints to improve mobility and reduce pain, delivered mostly by chiropractors and physical therapists.
Thermotherapy
Thermotherapy is the clinical application of external heat to body tissue to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and promote healing, using superficial or deep heating methods.
Traction therapy
Traction therapy applies a pulling force to the spine to separate vertebrae and relieve pain; it remains widely used despite reviews finding little or no benefit.
Vibration therapy
Vibration therapy applies mechanical oscillations to the whole body or a single muscle to treat musculoskeletal, neurological, and circulatory conditions, including sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and spasticity.
Voice Training
Voice training: techniques for using the voice with minimal muscle effort (MeSH); behavioral voice therapy by speech-language pathologists for dysphonia, prevention, and gender-affirming voice modification.