Course Description:

As awareness of pain science continues to grow, many therapists find themselves with a dilemma regarding the utility of manual therapy. A central tenet of pain neuroscience education is shifting patients away from traditional biomedical and anatomical models. Those same biomedical and anatomical models often serve as the foundation for manual therapy education. A deliberate shift away from these models has left many clinicians wondering if manual therapy and pain science can coexist, or if they are fundamentally incompatible.
In this immersive two-day course, we will explore the potential cohabitation of pain science and various manual therapy interventions such as mobilization, manipulation, soft tissue treatments, and manually resisted exercise. Advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of manual therapy, along with advances in understanding of the pain neuromatrix reveal pathways to utilize manual therapy for cortical remapping, modification of afferent input to the central nervous system and activation of descending inhibitory mechanisms.
More recent pain neuroscience education research has shown that it is not optimal as a stand-alone treatment and should be paired with other interventions commonly performed in physical therapy. This hands-on course will prepare therapists to use pain science and manual therapy together to improve outcomes in persistent pain.