Morrison’s Laryngeal Gutters: Why treat the retrolaryngeal region with manual therapy? Manual therapy, of all types, has been included in the voice (and later swallowing) professional literature since 1985 (Aronson 1). Early on, aggressive laryngeal manipulation was the norm, as it was seen to break up and reduce local muscle tension in the perilaryngeal musculature… Continue Reading
Tools for Trismus and Jaw Opening-Related Conditions A few years back, I made a post about self-treatment options for radiation-induced trismus and other jaw-related problems. Since that time, I’ve found more readily accessible items that can help your patients with these conditions. While my preferred treatment method is using a very gentle finger inserted between… Continue Reading
The hyoid. Must we work so aggressively? Manual interventions to the anterior neck take many forms. My early training taught us to grasp the hyoid at the posterior aspect to check alignment and “freedom.” Though never told to squeeze, when I received this work from other students and later, as part of treatment, the grip… Continue Reading
The mechanism of action for laryngeal manual therapies: the need for an update. In general, laryngeal manual therapies and manual therapy models tend towards narrow explanatory perspectives. Yet the various touch styles involved with such therapies have not been proven to be more than nonspecific. Having been taught through a modality that claims to target… Continue Reading
Incorporating manual therapy into current interventions: Tips from peers. In the eleven years that the Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders course has been taught, one of the more frequent questions facing new learners is a deeper understanding of how manual therapy (and shared decision-making) is to be incorporated into the treatment routines… Continue Reading
Seeing the forest for the trees: Putting fascia in perspective when treating the whole person. (Placing individual tissue perspectives into context) Fascia is a hot topic among many health and fitness professionals, but why so? Can we treat fascia? As an isolated structure, can we, beyond a reasonable doubt, be accurate in blaming fascial problems… Continue Reading
A FEES view of manual therapy For most, getting the opportunity to visualize how manual therapy impacts internal structures is a rare event. I’m fortunate to have owners of FEES devices bring them to select Foundations in Manual Therapy: Voice and Swallowing Disorders classes, allowing us to view those images. The methods taught in the… Continue Reading
