Australian manual therapy was created by an Australian physical therapist, Geoffrey Maitland. He developed specific spinal mobilization and manipulation techniques after studying from a variety of different kinds of manual treatment practitioners. He also devised a thorough evaluation and assessment process that was based on the nature of a patients symptoms, and a manual assessment of joint mobility. The treatment technique and amount of force used is based on the intensity of pain felt as well as the degree of stiffness in the spine or peripheral joint. He used constant re-assessment to determine if the technique or force was effective or should be modified. His assessment protocol was unique and valuable because it established away for a clinician to get immediate feedback on an intervention and not lose time on treatments that didn’t help. His mobilizations were also unique because he utilized gentle spinal mobilizations on patients for whom spinal manipulations were aggravating or painful
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http://morphopedics.wikidot.com/fundamentals-of-maitland-mobilizations