OMT España

Special features

The Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy OMT is in constant evolution and increasingly has greater influence in the physical therapy practice. Despite this evolution, certain concepts which remain intact in their application exist and they could be considered as characteristic of this kind of physical therapy. These special characteristics, nowadays, are generally accepted in the physical therapy practice.

Biomechanical approach for the evaluation and treatment:

In OMT, the biomechanical principles are essential for the analysis and treatment of the musculoskeletal disorders.

This method uses, both for the assessment as for the treatment, the traslatoric movements of the joint play (especially the traction and gliding) in relation to the treatment plane of the joint, this allows a gentle and effective joint mobilization. This way, the physical therapist determines the type of dysfunction or directs the treatment through the grades of movement and the end feel which he is able to palpate.

The previous tridimensional joint positioning for the mobilization, both in the (actual) resting position or in increasingly closer to the restriction limit positions, allows a greater effectiveness and specificity of the technique, at the same time it improves the patient's feeling during its application.

Besides, the Kaltenborn's Convex-Concave Rule allows determining in a direct way the gliding direction of the joint for the treatment and evaluation in each case.

Technique combination:

The use of several techniques during the same treatment session is one of the concepts which have always been defended in this method, looking for a greater effectiveness. In these techniques we include the self-treatment, previously having instructed the patient, in order to maintain the obtained improvements and so as to prevent recurrences. 

Trial treatment and clinical reasoning:

By the term trial treatment we understand that it is a low risk therapeutic proceeding which can be used as an additional proceeding for the evaluation, which can confirm or deny the first diagnosis.

This way, it should be noted that the OMT evaluation is a clinical reasoning process that starts with and broad initial hypothesis which leads to the performing of some tests and analysis to confirm or deny that hypothesis, until a physical therapy diagnosis is found. The clinical reasoning process does not end there, but it continues along the treatment and throughout the re-evaluation, in order to rethink the diagnosis and the therapeutic approach.

Ergonomic principles for the physical therapist:

The Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy (OMT) gives great importance to the correct body mechanics of the physical therapist. Therefore, every technique is designed taking this aspect into account, and they also use material such as wedges and fixation and mobilization belts.