Customer Reviews

Spinal Manipulation Made Simple: A Manual of Soft Tissue Techniques

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Most people are familiar with the spinal manipulations of Chiropractors and Osteopaths but most are unfamiliar with somatic techniques and how they differ. Instead of quick movements to "adjust" the back, it involves slower techniques designed to help the body to realign the vertebrae correctly using its own natural actions and reactions. Jeffrey Maitland has thoroughly researched the area of spinal manipulation and with the help of Chiropractors, Osteopaths, and Rolfers has put together this text on techniques that can be understood by anyone. The book is designed for those who want a better understanding of their back, how different problems originate, and how to resolve those problems. This does not mean that you will never need to see an Osteopath or Chiropractor, but you may be able to resolve many basic problems yourself. Of course you can't work on your own back and so the techniques better enable you to help others. These are simple, slow, safe, body aware techniques and that makes this a highly recommended book for anyone who wants to understand the back, how it works, and how to live with theirs or those who want to add additional techniques to their knowledge base.

Working as a physical therapist and acupuncturist with some education in manual therapy/osteopathy,a couple of years working with dry-needling and bodywork on triggerpoints, I find this little book extremely useful in daily practice.
Shifting from high-velocity techniques to these soft-tissue/assisted release- techniques ,gives very good predictable results with greatly reduced risk of tissue-damage on our patients.
Thorough explanations of spinal mechanics, testing and release-tecniques for joint fixations in the totalcolumna gives any bodyworker/therapist the possibility to release painful facet restrictions after a very short study/workperiod.This little seemingly modest text should give value for several expensive workshops and courses.
Releasing the overlying triggerpoints in paravertebral muscles simultaneously giving the fixed joint an impetus towards normal position is elegant, efficient and largely as painfree as any release of triggerpoints. Thank you very much Jeffrey Maitland!

This book is easy, reader friendly and accessible for somatic practitioners to understand clearly what one is feeling both at the boney and tissue levels. Jeff has given us his years of practicing this in distilling the information of spinal biomechanics into linguistically and technically clear steps for easing joint fixations and facet restrictions anywhere along the spine via soft tissue techniques and a whole body approach. Excellent drawings and photographs accompany the text for even further clarity. The anatomy is all there plus easy ways to understand what to do even when you don't understand why. The book is a tour of every facet of the spine from sacrum to occiput in the possible things one might feel and wonder what the heck to do about it rather than vague mashing around. Included is the constant reference to working with the whole body/person. Anyone "working" on bodies would benefit from having this manual and keeping it close at hand.

Dr Oakley Smith developed the science of Naprathy over 100 years ago. The information and techniques sounds a lot like NAPRAPATHY.
There is a National College in Chicago that teaches this science.