Manual Therapy at Home in Sadashiv Peth, Pune

Manual therapy means treatment with the physiotherapist's hands: moving a stiff joint through its range, pressing and stretching tight muscle, and guiding the body into positions that ease pain. It needs no machine, which makes it one of the techniques that suit a home visit well.

The manual therapy guide describes the approaches in general. This page is about how hands-on treatment is done in a Sadashiv Peth home, where the "treatment table" is usually a bed or a floor mattress, and what it can and cannot do.

Treating on a bed, a mattress or a chair

A clinic has an adjustable plinth. A peth home has whatever is there, and that works well enough. We choose according to the problem:

• A firm bed. Suited to the back, hips and legs. If the bed is very soft or low, the physiotherapist may ask you to move to a firmer one, or work on the floor.
• A floor mattress. Many homes still sleep on one. We work at floor level, kneeling beside you, taking care of our own backs as well as yours.
• A chair with a back. Often used for the neck, shoulders and arms. A plain chair, not a swivel one, keeps you steady.

Good lighting and a few minutes to move furniture are all we need. Wear loose, comfortable clothes, and we use towels to keep you covered.

Mobilisation, manipulation and soft-tissue work

These terms are often confused, so it helps to know them:

• Mobilisation is slow, repeated, gentle movement of a joint, within a range you can control. It is used for stiff knees, shoulders, hips and spine, and is the most common form.
• Manipulation is a quick, small thrust at the end of a joint's range, often with a click. It is used selectively and only by physiotherapists trained in it, after screening, and never when there is a warning sign. It is not used on the neck unless the physiotherapist is trained and has screened you carefully.
• Soft-tissue techniques are massage and sustained pressure for muscles and tendons, which overlap with myofascial release.

What hands-on treatment is good for, and where it stops

Manual therapy tends to reduce pain and increase movement for a while, which is useful because that window can be used for exercise. Research supports it as an addition for conditions such as low back pain, neck pain and shoulder stiffness, and for stiffness after immobilisation. The benefit is usually modest and temporary on its own. It does not replace exercises, and it does not suit every condition. A fresh fracture, an infection, a tumour, serious osteoporosis or unexplained pain at night call for medical assessment first.

We will tell you honestly what to expect. If your problem is a stiff knee, see knee pain physiotherapy in Sadashiv Peth; for a stiff and painful shoulder, see frozen shoulder physiotherapy.

What you may feel, and what to report

Treatment should feel firm but tolerable. Some achiness the next day is normal, similar to after exercise. Tell the physiotherapist at once if you feel sharp pain, tingling down an arm or leg, dizziness, nausea or changes in vision during a neck technique. After treatment, keep moving gently and do the exercises you are given.

A fall with severe pain, a hot swollen joint, or a limb that has suddenly become weak or numb should be seen by a doctor first. To arrange a visit, book here, or see how home physiotherapy in Sadashiv Peth works. The treatment is also offered in Tilak Road.