Mobilisation of the Nervous System

This controversial book broadens the horizons of manual therapy to embrace adverse tension in the nervous system. Injury can impair the mobility and elasticity of the nervous system, which are both essential features of normal body movement. The author contends that the clinical consequences of altered nervous system biomechanics are unrecognised and that many disorders attributed to musculoskeletal origins actually originate from, or have a significant component of, adverse neural tension. Mobilisation of the Nervous System describes an innovative concept of examination and treatment technique. David Butler associates clinical reasoning processes with a new understanding of the nervous system as a dynamic continuum: mechanical, chemical and electrical aspects are interrelated, and interterence with any part may have implications tor the whole. The approach utilises passive mobilisation through tension testing. Standard tension tests are refined, new tests introduced, and their use extended beyond diagnosis to successful treatment and a better understanding of many commonly encountered syndromes. The author has been strongly influenced by the Maitland approach, and this book may be regarded as an extension of that school of thought.