Anatomy, Physiology, Kinesiology for Manual Therapists

As manual therapists, our goal is to work with the body to relieve pain, restore function, and promote wellness. Having a thorough understanding of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology can be helpful in achieving these goals for the following reasons:

1. Anatomy: Understanding the structure and function of the human body can help us identify the location of injuries or imbalances, assess the range of motion of a joint, locate the origin and insertion points of muscles, and utilize certain techniques like muscle energy techniques, stretches, and more!
2. Physiology: Knowledge of physiology allows us to understand how the body's systems function, relate to one another, and how they're affected by different approaches. For example, if visceral work is of interest to you, getting a better understanding of the function of the organs can give us a better perspective on the potential changes we may be effecting.
3. Kinesiology: Knowing how the body moves and how muscles work together to produce movement can help you see the bigger picture with your work. We can use this knowledge to identify muscle imbalances, joint restrictions, and compensatory movement patterns that may contribute to pain and dysfunction.

There are many other reasons why understanding anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology can help us improve our practices and depending on your particular approach, this knowledge may offer you something different than another practitioner. For example, the Structural Integration practitioner and the Craniosacral practitioner will find different facets of this information relevant to their practice.

Regardless of your specialty, this knowledge will take your practice to the next level by offering you a more thorough understanding of the human body as a whole.