Symmetry Physical Therapy experts utilize manual therapy skills to help restore normal function so you can heal more quickly. Their hands-on approach improves restricted movements while also reducing pain. Manual therapy includes massage to soft tissue structures, mobilizations and manipulations to restricted joints, and stretching of tight muscles. After a surgery, manual therapy is essential to reduce swelling and improve mobility while preventing the build-up of scar tissue.

What may not be as obvious are the benefits that manual therapy has for patients who have not undergone surgical interventions. Many patients with chronic pain (pain lasting longer than 3 months) benefit significantly from a gentle and focused hands-on approach. Pain can be exacerbated by the sympathetic nervous system—the “flight or fight” system of our bodies. After experiencing pain for a prolonged time, your body may have a more pronounced sensitization in which pain becomes self-perpetuating and your body’s threshold in perceiving pain is lessened.

Symmetry therapists are highly skilled in manual therapy. Their plan of care treatments ultimately inhibit nerve pathways that have been facilitating your body’s perception of pain. As your nervous system begins to quiet and your muscles and joints begin to relax, your pain diminishes.