Applied Anatomy & Physiology for Manual Therapists

Book Preface

Throughout our careers, we have used many texts to support the teaching of anatomy and physiology (A&P) to students of manual therapy. Most of these standard A&P texts have been written for a broad audience that includes students in a wide variety of health care programs such as nursing, dentistry, and physical and occupational therapy. These texts generally offer lots of specifi c information that, while essential for other scientifi c and professional endeavors, has minimal relevance to the practice of manual therapy. For example, most provide detailed facts on such things as chemical bonding, the structure of DNA, reading an EKG, and the steps of meiosis; details that are not necessary in order for manual therapists to make safe and informed therapeutic choices. At the same time, these standard texts lack adequate information about the intricacies of the myofascial network; important functional connections between the muscular, nervous, and fascial systems; and details of the lymphatic system’s structure and function as it relates to fl uid return. For manual therapists, all of these details help provide essential rationale that explains many of the benefi ts and effects of their form of therapy. We’ve consistently heard from students and colleagues alike that a different type of A&P book is needed: one that emphasizes the A&P concepts that manual therapists really need to know, and links that science to their hands-on work.

Applied Anatomy and Physiology for Manual Therapists is a clear, accurate, simple, and comprehensive A&P textbook that addresses the needs of students in manual therapy education programs. This is a focused text that deliberately emphasizes the information manual therapists need to be familiar with in order to explain the benefi ts, effects, indications, and contraindications of their specifi c form of manual therapy.

The text includes detailed information not covered in standard A&P texts, adding an entire chapter on neuromuscular and myofascial connections (Chapter 8), and separating the structure and function of the lymphatic system (Chapter 11) from immunity and healing ( Chapter 12). This, along with chapter features such as Manual Therapy Applications, Pathology Alerts, and What Do You Think? questions, and By the Way features, helps readers build bridges between the scientifi c facts and the application of that information to their therapeutic practice.

ORGANIZATION AND APPROACH

The table of contents is organized into six units to help readers grasp the connections between various body systems. With the exception of the fi rst two chapters that introduce basic concepts and terminology, the unit headings help students establish a functional link between the individual systems of each unit. The order in which the body systems are presented is fairly standard. The choice to fi rst explore the skin, skeletal, and muscular systems is designed to support a manual therapy program in which the study of A&P coincides with the development of students’ manual skills. By exploring these systems fi rst, students learn about the tissues they are working on, with, and through. We have taken a layered approach to the presentation of content within chapters. For each topic, we establish a general understanding of and context for foundational information before delving into all the details. Using this method, a key term or concept is initially explained in basic terms the fi rst time it is encountered, while a more detailed analysis of the information is saved until there is an opportunity to make a meaningful and useful connection to a manual therapy application. For example, the types of connective tissue are listed and defi ned in Chapter 3, Chemistry, Cells, and Tissues, but the detailed explanations of fascia and the molecular structure of collagen do not appear until Chapter 8, Neuromuscular and Myofascial Connections.