MANUAL THERAPY implies a procedure in which joints and soft tissues are treated and cured by direct contact.
It is a system of special manual techniques and procedures that are used to improve the impaired function of the joints, primarily the spine, with the necessary diagnostics and assessment of the condition beforehand.
It is used as a multimodal approach to the locomotor system, in combination with kinesitherapy procedures and proprioceptive techniques.

Here at the K-centar Polyclinic, professors of kinesiology and specially trained physiotherapy specialists diagnose and treat soft tissues and bone-joint structures.
The goal of the therapy is to reduce pain, increase range of motion, facilitate movement and reduce inflammatory changes in the treated region.

Patients can be treated in a sitting, standing or lying position

The EMMETT treatment can be performed alone or in combination with other therapeutic methods or exercise systems, directly on the client’s skin or over clothing.
If used alone, the treatment usually lasts 10 to 30 minutes.

It is a very fast method that, when activating the right muscle, gives effective results as soon as the muscle correction is carried out.

The EMMETT technique was developed by Ross Emmett (Australia). The places where pressure is applied are the so-called EMMETT points – overlapping points of sensory or receptor and muscle points. The technique registeres bad patterns of movement and balance, correccting them as such through the work of different structures of the central nervous system, sto that new patterns of movement are created, without pain and with better balance – depending on the clinical picture and difficulties presented by the patient/client.

In addition to the immediate effect on muscle correction, by relaxing muscle and fascial tension, we try to have an effect on the patient’s long-term improvement, and we stimulate the secretion of natural endorphins, improving circulation and lymphatic drainage.

The pressure required to stimulate the EMMETT points doesn’t need to be too firm or painful. The EMMETT therapist is adept at applying the right amount of pressure, in the right direction, and within the right amount of time. During the treatment, a combination of pressures is used, where targeted therapeutic elements are applied that make the desired physical change unique to each person.
Although often used in combination with other techniques, the EMMETT technique is an effective and efficient therapy when used alone.

Bowen treatment consists of a series of small movements applying different pressures, each on a specific place on the body. The treatment is pleasant – therapists use light, cross movements upon the muscles, tendons or ligaments without violent manipulation. The treatment usually lasts between 30 minutes and 1 hour.

Bowen therapy is widely used to relieve and resolve chronic and sudden pain. Bowen’s treatments enable recovery from many traumatic and chronic diseases, and since they act on the cause of the difficulty, the difficulty itself is permanently removed.

As an independent therapy or as a complementary therapy to existing chiropractic or physiotherapy programs, Bowen therapy has proven to be an effective technique.
The technique is very gentle and there is no age limit for the patient, it can be used on newborn children or elderly people.

Some of the indications for using Bowen therapy:

• Back pain
• Sciatica and other spine problems
• Painful shoulder syndrome
• Pain in the neck and whiplash injuries of the neck
• Problems with knees, joints and feet
• Sports injuries
• Migraine, dizziness and headache
• Digestive problems
• Respiratory problems (asthma and allergies)

Trigger points can cause: headaches, neck and jaw pain, low back pain, neck and shoulder pain, arm and leg pain, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome etc.

They can also be the cause of various problems such as ear pain, dizziness, nausea, heartburn, false heart pain, cardiac arrhythmia and genital pain. Trigger or trigger points in the muscles can also cause colic in babies and bedwetting in older children, and can also be the cause of a poor posture. They can cause pain and sinus congestion. Trigger points can play a role in chronic fatigue and reduced resistance to infection. And that’s why trigger points, responsible for long-term pain and disability that seem to have no cure, can cause depression.

There is more and more evidence that trigger points are responsible for many painful complaints or myofascial pains. Trigger points are very painful hard nodules in the striated muscles. The trigger point is painful on pressure and can lead to reflex pain and motor dysfunction in areas far from the point itself. In pain clinics around the world, Trigger points have been found to be the primary cause of pain in nearly 75% of patients with acute or chronic pain.

Painkillers are the most common choice of both doctors and patients when they feel pain in some part of the body. Suppressing pain with pain medication gives us the illusion that the disease has been cured – when in reality they only mask the problem. Most often, pain, such as headache, muscle and joint pain, is a warning and protective response to muscle overuse or muscle microtrauma. Pain tells us that something is wrong and needs to be removed. It’s not good to kill the messenger with painkillers and ignore the message. Pain is most often a messenger or a symptom, not the disease itself. Treatment must be directed at the cause of the pain.

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

Our knowledge of Trigger points comes from the research of the modern or conventional Western medicine. Trigger points can be felt with the fingers. They emit characteristic electrical signals that can be measured by sensitive electronic equipment. Most of what is known about trigger points is very well documented in professional works called Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction and The Trigger Point Manual (Janet Travell and David Simons).

Valuable medical progress in the treatment of pain caused by Trigger points can be attributed to many authors who scientifically researched the causes and treatment methods of this phenomenon. Once you know where the trigger points are located in a particular muscle and when an experienced therapist finds them by palpation – trigger point deactivation can be approached in several ways. Significant relief of symptoms often comes in just a few minutes. Most problems can be eliminated within three to ten treatments.

Even persistent chronic conditions can be cured in as little as six weeks. The number of treatments could be higher for people suffering from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or widespread myofascial pain syndrome, but even they can experience continuous progress and have real hope of a significant improvement in their condition.

Trigger point techniques work by achieving three things:

• RThe chemical and neurological feedback loop that maintains muscle contraction is broken
• blood and lymph circulation that was limited by the contacted tissue increases
• directly stretches the nodal muscle fibers of the trigger point.

Also known as vacuum therapy, Schröpftherapie, cupping is an ancient healing technique spread throughout the world. The name that best describes how cupping works is certainly vacuum therapy, since due to the negative pressure created by extracting air from the cup, it lifts the skin upwards after placing it in a certain place.

This has a relaxing effect on the body, stimulates circulation, the work of the lymphatic system and general metabolism or – according to traditional Chinese medicine – the flow of vital energy known as qi (chi).

The therapy removes energy blockages, removes toxins and impurities from the body, reduces muscle tension, pain and inflammation.

Depending on their type, method of application and condition of the treated person, the cups usually remain on the body from 3 to 15 minutes.

The reason for its longevity and popularity is certainly the benefits it brings – detoxification, relief of pain and inflammatory conditions, improvement of circulation, lymphatic drainage, beneficial effect on skin health and cellulite removal.

The ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and China are often mentioned as its origins.

Since they are placed on certain points, cupping can be used in combination with acupressure, massage, reflexology or acupuncture, as this can enhance the effect of the mentioned therapies.

This manual treatment technique has become very popular in Croatia in the last two decades.

The biomechanical system in the body is very complex and as such is prone to interdependent changes in certain parts, which then cause painful conditions and diseases. Manipulative therapy or chiropractic deals with correcting damaged and unfavorable positions within smaller or larger joints by applying external force, i.e. “adjusting” the joints by an experienced physiotherapist or chiropractor.

It is of great importance that the chiropractic procedure itself is performed by a trained therapist or chiropractor. Sometimes one procedure is enough, while in other cases, several repeated treatments may be needed in order to achieve a satisfactory result. For the same reason, it is advisable to combine chiropractic with other methods of physiotherapy, such as massage and kinesiotherapy, all in order to remove symptoms as quickly and as completely as possible and return the full function of the injured or painful segment.