Tag: Manual therapy
The Machinations of McKenzie
Editors Note: Robin McKenzie is a great of physiotherapy, but as it often the case with those who create change, it comes at great expense – often to others. Former acolyte David Poulter recently shared the tumultuous story of his ten years with McKenzie as both a cathartic journey for …
How Australian Chiropractors Transformed World Physiotherapy
Osteopathy was devised in 1870s America by Dr Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917) and chiropractic some twenty years later by David Daniel Palmer (1845-1913). Both utilised a structural perspective to explain and treat functional disturbances. Over the years, orthodox medicine viewed such practices with disdain. The wide variance in training, lack …
The New Zealand Private Practice Boom
In the years before 1974, private physiotherapy practices were few and far between in New Zealand. Patients either paid the full cost of treatment themselves, or claimed against private insurance schemes which had highly unregulated fee structures and were unwilling to negotiate fees with physiotherapists locally or nationally. With the …
When Giants Collide: The Birth of Manipulative Physiotherapy
The following article is based on an article titled “History of IFOMT” by David W Lamb, Freddy M Kaltenborn and Stanley V Paris. The three authors were pioneering leaders in their field and drivers of the formation of the, now known as, International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT). …
The Bonesetters of Brittany
In the Brittany (Western France) of yesteryear, there was a dearth of medical doctors practicing in the rural areas and when one could be found, his professional services were rarely affordable. Traditional healing treatments and remedies were therefore widely used; one of the local healers most commonly consulted was the …
Forty Years of Dutch Manual Therapy
Introduction The 40th anniversary of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Manuele Therapie (NVMT) in 2021 was a trigger for this historical review by Huub Vossen and Anton de Wijer. Their writings were translated to English via an online translation application and edited by Glenn Ruscoe. The genesis of manual therapy As …
Request for help: The Historical Genesis of Manual Therapy
This post comes from Cameron MacDonald, IPHA Exec member, who trained originally in Australia and has been a practicing clinician and researcher in the USA. Cameron is currently working on a Ph.D. provisionally titled: Identifying the basis of manual therapy for the physiotherapy, chiropractic, medical and osteopathic professions: Is there …
Mobilising a Profession: Geoffrey Maitland
…Maitland’s emphasis on very careful and comprehensive examination leading to the precise application of treatment by movement and followed in turn by the assessment of the effects of that movement on the patient, form the basis for the modern clinical approach. This is probably as close to the scientific method …
A history of Spanish physiotherapy
In 2011the Spanish physiotherapy journal Cuestiones de Fisioterapia ran a special issue on the history of physiotherapy in Spain (link to full pdf of the journal). Very generously, the authors included English translations of many of the abstracts. Thanks to Glenn also for translating a version of the editorial through Google …
Robin McKenzie: History’s Greatest Physios – People’s Choice Award
Robin McKenzie has received many awards, honours and titles during his career, and added to them is the International Physiotherapy History Association’s History’s Greatest Physios – People’s Choice Award. The Award is based on the greatest number of nominations for inclusion in the list of History’s Greatest Physios. Robin Anthony …