Manipulative Treatment

History shows that the Chinese were first to recognize the healing power of manipulations at around 3000BC; the early Egyptians are also made references to the benefit of manual treatment. However, the foundation of manual medicine can be traced back to ancient times when Hippocrates, who is regarded as the founder of medical inquiry, made the first recorded references to spinal manipulation. Manipulations reappeared in Europe with the "bone setters" of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which treated sprains and dislocations. Modern thoughts of manual treatment were rediscovered in the middle of nineteenth century.

Manipulation means many different things to different people. To most manipulative health professionals spine manipulations implies an effort hands-on to restore normal function of the spine and the body.

There are some main different attitudes towards spinal disorders, and consequently a few different intentions in spinal manipulations. The major types of spinal manipulation approach consist of osteopathy, chiropractic, manipulative physiotherapy and also orthopedic medicine. All these approaches have their successes; hence, in a simple case it does not matter what theories the manipulator has or what technique he employs.