HI STORY OF MANUAL

THERAPY
B. W. Atki nson. A. P. A.
I n r ecent year s, ther e has been an upsur ge of i nter est
i n
mobi l i sati on and mani pul ati on of the per i pher al
and
spi nal j oi nts.
Ther e have been a mul ti tude of ar ti cl es andbooks wr i tten by doctor s, physi other spi sts, l ay mani pul ator s
andanyone whohas, or thi nks he has, a knowl edge of the subj ect .
Mani pul ati on, f or many year s, was shunnedby the medi cal pr of essi on and
anyone whoeven attempted to
mani pul ate, whether i t be to the per i pher al or spi nal j oi nt, was i mmedi atel y br andedas a
quack.
Why thi s was so i s mysti f yi ng, because, i f the hi stor y of mani pul ati on i s studi ed, i t wi l l
be f ound
i t
has
i ts
r oots as f ar back as 400BC, wher e or thodox medi ci ne, as we knowi t hadi ts begi nni ng.
The f i r st known descr i pti on of mani pul ati on was gi ven by
Hi ppocr ates whose i deas wer e the basi s of
moder n medi ci ne.
Hi ppocr ates advocated that the pati ent be gi ven a steambath andthen pl aced pr one, boundto a boar d, and
tr acti on appl i ed by assi stants, pul l i ng on head and f eet . Whi l e thi s was bei ng done, the physi ci an woul d
pr ess shar pl y onthe af f ected ar ea, or si t on the back andbounce up anddownor even standonthe back.
However , the pr ocedur e most f avour edwas, whi l ethe pati ent was pr oneandsti l l i n tr acti on, to put a boar d
i n a cl ef t i n the wal l to act as a l ever andthen pl ace i t acr oss the pati ents spi ne andpr ess downwar ds. These
maneuver s wer e per f or medona couch mor e pr i mi ti ve than those used today, but cer tai nl y si mi l ar .
Hi ppocr ates i nf l uence was sti l l evi dent i n 200ADwhen Gal en descr i bed a method of mani pul ati on f or
di sl ocated di scs whi l e the pati ent was i n tr acti on.
I n the ear l y year s of the 10th centur y, an Ar ab physi ci an Abu' Al l i bn Si na, wr ote a tr eati se ontr acti on, i l l -
ustr ai ng the Hi ppocr ates method.
Thi s tr eatment was
sti l l
bei ng used centur i es l ater . Spi nal tr acti on was descr i bedby a Spani sh- Ar abi an
physi ci an
i n
the ear l y 14th centur y, and
by
a Tur ki sh physi ci an l ater i n the same centur y.
I n the 16th centur y,
an
I tal i an
doctor
known
as
Vi di us Vi di o,
al so
f ol l owed Hi ppocr ates, and i ndeed
or gani sed
the
medi cal
f acul ty of
the
day
usi ng the
ear l i er
i l l ustr ati ons
.
Hi s methods
wer e
mor e
r ef i ned
but
wer e essenti al l y that
of
the gr eat
master
.
Ambr oi se Par e, r ecogni sed as the gr eatest sur geon of r enai ssance ti mes, i ncl uded a chapter on ver tebr al
di sl ocati on
i n
hi s wor ks. He al so descr i bedtr acti on andpr essur e as advocated by Hi ppocr ates .
Vol ume 2, 1978- 79
33
Af ter the mi d 17th centur y, when J ohan Schul tes
r ecommendedsi mi l ar tr eatment, l i ttl e mor e was
wr i tten
of mani pul ati on f or two hundr edyear s' unti l
the
bone
setter s became known f or thei r r emedi es.
Thr ough the centur i es, peopl e pr acti sed
cur es
on
each other because physi ci ans wer e not
commonl y
avai l abl e. Some devel oped speci al ski l l s . I n pl aces as
f ar apar t as Centr al Eur ope, Mexi co and J apan,
Gypsi es, I ndi ans and J i u- j i tsu exponents r especti vel y, used
a
f or m
of mani pul ati on to r el i eve back i nj ur i es.
The most pr i mi ti ve method was
stampi ng on the back, and i t was thought that
cer tai n women had speci al
gi f ts. An Emer or ' s physi ci an i n 400
ADwr ote:
"Awomanwho has gi ven bi r th to twi ns shal l stamp on
the pai nf ul ki dneys and
that per son shal l be cur ed".
I n 1211, a f ur ther r ef i nement was r epor ted, the twi ns hadto
be boys!
I n
1662, i n Nor way, dur i ng a l awsui t about wi tchcr af t, a woman gave
evi dence on the method she had been
usi ng to cur e back ache. Si nce she was thr ee she had tr odden on
suf f er er s f r omr heumati sm, and when
she gr ewup she f ound she coul d tr eat ef f ecti vel y wi th her hands.
Peopl e i n
di f f er ent countr i es had thei r own par ti cul ar bel i ef s. I n
Nor way, the oper ator must be a f i r st- bor n
chi l d, and
i n I r el and
a
seventh chi l d. I n Scotl andthose bor n f eet f i r st possessed
r emar kabl e heal i ng power s
.
The f i r st publ i shed descr i pti on
of the bone setter cr af t was made by a Dr . Whar ton Hood i n the l ate 1800' s.
He was taught by a bone setter who owed
hi s f ather a debt of gr ati tude. Dr . Hoodsai d that the knowl edge
gai ned was ver y i mpor tant i n
pr eventati ve
and
cur ati ve tr eatment .
These peopl e wer e
named "bone setter s" because they bel i eved they wer e
putti ng smal l bones back i nto
pl ace
.
They wer e mai nl y
f ar mer s and bl acksmi ths and, bei ng ver y j eal ous of thei r ar t, woul d not
f r eel y
di scuss i t . Thei r knowl edge was,
ther ef or e, passedf r omf ather to son
onl y.
One
of the f i r st pr acti ti oner s documented was ver y smal l , ugl y l ass cal l ed Sar ah
Mapp. She was qui te
f at,
ver y bad
temper ed, but qui te a competent mani pul ator , and r oyal ty of the day used
her
ser vi ces.
She
acqui r ed
f ame
i n
the 1730' s but was much cr i ti ci zed by the medi cal pr of essi on of the ti mes .
She
l ost
her
suppor ter s
and
di eda
pauper .
Per haps
the
best known
bone setter i n moder n ti mes was Si r Al ber t Baker who l ear nt hi s ar t f r omhi s
cousi n, J ohn Atki nson (no
r el ati ve of mi ne) . For year s, he of f er ed to demonstr ate and teach doctor s
mani pul ati on but they
r ef used unti l 1916 when they f i nal l y agr eed to publ i sh hi s wor k i n the Medi cal
J our nal , and hi s ski l l was r ecogni sed
openl y by emi nent member s of the pr of essi on.
I n 1922, he was kni ghted,
much
to
the upset
of
many doctor s thr oughout Engl and.
Andr ew Sti l l (l ate 19th centur y), an
Amer i can,
was
r esponsi bl e f or the i ntr oducti on of Osteopathy. He
bel i eved that the body had wi thi n i tsel f the power
to contr ol
al l
di seases.
He al so
consi der ed that anato-
mi cal l esi ons caused physi ol ogi cal mal f uncti on.
e
. g
.
Di sl ocati on of the hi ps i s
a f r equent cause of
di abetes.
The J our nal of the Hong Kong Physi other apy Associ ati on
34
Al l thi s on todays standar ds seems
ver y pr i mi ti ve, but whenwe consi der the doctor s of that day used bar k
and opi umf or di abetes, and
vi negar f or smal l pox, we r eal i se the l i mi tati ons of thei r knowl edge.
I n
1892,
sti l l j oi ned an Edi nbor ough doctor named Wi l l i amSmi th to f or mthe f i r st school of osteopathy
and
i n
1900, the f i r st Osteopaths wer e gr anteda f ul l l i cence to pr acti ce medi ci ne i n some states i n Amer i ca.
Si nce thi s ti me, of cour se, the standar d has i mpr oved
unti l today, the Ostoepaths anddoctor s i n U. S. A. have
equal standi ng.
Dur i ng
the same per i od, Chi r opr acti cs devel oped. At f i r st
they wer e "magneti ser s".
A
man cal l ed Dani el
Pal mer i n
I owa i n
the
Uni ted States was convi nced that he had power s of
magneti smand star ted
a
busi ness
whi ch l asted
ten year s
.
He gai nedsome knowl edge of mani pul ati on and r epl aced subl uxated ver tebr ae
.
Pal mer ' s f i r st pati ent was a negr o who,
f or seventeen year s, had been compl etel y deaf af ter an i nj ur y to
hi s
neck, Pal mer f ounda "subl uxati on" whi ch
he
adj usted
and the pati ent r ecover ed.
He opened hi s f i r st
Chi r opr acti c school wi th a sol i ci tor cal l ed
Car ver i n 1897. Pal mer not onl y mani pul ated
the spi ne but al so the l i mbs.
Car ver l ater took over the school and
taught the Car ver method of Chi r o-
pr acti c . These chi r opr actor s
wer e knownas "mi xer s".
Pal mer ' s son then star ted hi s own school but
onl y mani pul atedthe spi ne. Thi s was the "Pal mer Method of
Chi r opr acti c" and i ts exponents wer e cal l ed "str ai ghts".
The ter ms "mi xer s" and "str ai ghts' . ar e sti l l used
to thi s day.
Chi r opr actor s have gai ned a
l ot of r ecogni ti on i n Amer i ca but wi th
di f f er i ng statesl aws, the si tuati on i s
conf used.
Al i ttl e known br anch of Chi r opr acti c i s
Napr apathy and was star ted i n Chi cago i n 1903.
These
pr acti ti oner s bel i eved
that the l i gaments become contr acted and pul l
the
ver tebr ate together , causi ng
di seases l i ke gal l stones, f or exampl e, by r estr i cti ng
ner ves andbl ood vessel s.
Dur i ng the 19th centur y, the medi cal
pr of essi on began to l ook at
mani pul ati on
as
a means of cur i ng back-
ache
and
other di scomf or ts of the spi ne and
l i mbs.
Osci l l ator y
tecni ques wer e f i r st r ecommended by
Recami er i n 1838 f or tr eatment of
Tor ti col l i s . Manual
vi br ati on was
i ntensi vel y empl oyed by
Kel l gr een,
a
Swedi sh physi other api st wor ki ng i n Londonat
the tur n
of the centur y .
These techni ques have been adopted
and i mpr oved on by moder n ther api sts such as
Mai tl and and
Gr i eves
.
Si nce the tur n of the centur y,
ther e have been many men who
have put r espectabi l i ty i nto the f i ne
ar t
of
mani pul ati on. J ohn Mennel l pr acti sed
i n London as di d Dr s. Edgar
and J ames Cyr i ax, f ather and son, and
Dr . Mai n i n Fr ance, to name a
f ew
.
Vol ume 2, 1978- 79
35
About 1950, Fr eddy Kal tenbor n became i nter ested i n mani pul ati on and af ter gr aduati ng as a physi other -
api st, went to U. K. to study under Mennel l , Cyr i ax and Stoddar t, and al so attended. the school of
Osteopathy i n London. Af ter thi s, he r etur ned to Nor way to teach hi s newf oundar t to hi s col l eagues.
Cyr i ax f ol l owed to conduct the f i r st exami nati on i n mani pul ati on i n Nor way.
I n 1970, Dr . Cyr i ax, Fr eddy Kal tenbor n and si xteen physi other api sts f r omseven countr i es met on 20th
Apr i l wi th the i ntenti on of f or mi ng a speci al i nter est gr oup whi ch was the begi nni ng of the I nter nati onal
Feder ati on Of Mani pul ati ve Ther api sts. (I . F. O. M. T. )
I n
1973, the f i r st semi nar andcongr ess of I . F. O. M. T. was hel d i n the Canar y I sl ands. Her e the f i r st exami n-
ati on and assessment of standar ds wer e hel d. The second semi nar was al so i n Gr an Canar y and 1977
saw
the thi r d semi nar of I . F. O. M. T. i n Vai l i n Col or ado, and anyone who has r ead the pr oceedi ngs of the
sci enti f i c week wi l l r eal i se the hi gh standar ds achi eved.
Thi s
has been a r esume of the hi stor y of mani pul ati on f r omHi ppocr ates
to
the pr esent
date.
Ref er ences :

Mani pul ati on: Past andPr esent .
Ei l er H. Schi otz.
J ames Cyr i ax.
The J our nal
of
the
Hong Kong Physi other apy Associ ati on
36