Manual therapy

Manual therapy is a specialization of physiotherapy. Manual therapy is still officially considered to be part of alternative medicine, although the physiotherapist is a regular practitioner himself. The techniques that manual therapists use are said to help with various complaints of the neck, shoulders and back. The aim of manual therapy is to make your joints more mobile.

What can you expect?

Many people think of manual therapy as ‘cracking’ bones. The ‘cracking’ of bones means that quick corrections are made to a joint. The crack you can hear is probably due to gas escaping from the joints. That sound does not automatically mean that your complaint is gone or will decrease, it is purely a natural reaction of the body.

Manual therapists also master various manual techniques that do not involve squatting. The ultimate goal of manual therapists is to make the joints more stable and/or to allow the joints to move better.

Quality

In contrast to physiotherapy, manual therapy is not a legally protected profession. For a recognized training, training as a physiotherapist or, for example, a remedial therapist or basic doctor is required. The quality register is the Central Quality Register Physiotherapy (CKR) of the Royal Dutch Society for Physiotherapy (KNGF).

Manual therapists who want to register must, among other things, have successfully completed a recognized training. You can find a manual therapist who is registered via www.defysiotherapeut.com. The Dutch Association for Manual Therapy (NVMT) is the professional association for manual therapists, www.nvmt.nl. To become a member, manual therapists must also be members of the KNGF. There are also practitioners who work as manual therapists and who are not members of a professional association.

Effectiveness and safety

Manual therapy has not yet been scientifically proven to be effective. Research shows that ‘squatting’ in particular can entail risks. Some people actually get more complaints from that.

Compensation

Manual therapy is reimbursed to a limited extent from the basic insurance. You can take out additional insurance for it. When you will be reimbursed depends on the conditions. Many insurers choose to reimburse a maximum number of treatments per year. Although manual therapy is an alternative medicine, most insurers (because of the link with physiotherapy) do not place manual therapy under the heading ‘alternative medicine’. Reimbursement will therefore not be deducted from the total amount that you will be reimbursed for alternative medicine.