Manual Physical Therapy: Moving Beyond the Theoretical

Timothy W. Flynn

DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2004.0111

This special issue of the Journal is dedicated to the topic of manual physical therapy. The growing body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of manual physical therapy for a wide variety of patient populations makes this a timely and important topic. The variety of patient populations addressed in this special issue highlights the diversity of conditions for which manual physical therapy should play a role in evidence-based patient management. Like many aspects of practice, however, there appear to be barriers hindering the integration of the evidence supporting manual therapy into the decision-making processes of practicing clinicians and the curricula of programs educating physical therapists. These barriers need to be identified and dismantled, beginning with the language we choose to use.

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2004; 34(11):659-661. doi:10.2519/jospt.2004.0111

Key Words: language, manual therapy, patient populations

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