Manual therapy in Hamburg-Ottensen

What it is

Manual therapy is an additional qualification that physiotherapists acquire through several years of further training. It covers assessment and treatment techniques for joints, muscles and nerve structures — mobilisation, traction and targeted soft-tissue work.

I completed this training between 2017 and 2019. It can be prescribed by a doctor and is a remedy in its own right, which has to be named explicitly on the prescription.

When it helps

• with restricted movement in a joint — a shoulder that can no longer be raised overhead, for instance
• with a feeling of blockage in the spine
• with neck pain and headaches originating in the cervical spine
• with complaints radiating into an arm or a leg
• after prolonged immobilisation, when a joint feels stiff

How it works with me

Every technique is preceded by an examination. I check which movement is restricted in which direction, and whether the cause lies in the joint, in the soft tissue or in motor control. Only then do I choose the technique.

Treatment does not have to hurt — there is more on that in the FAQ. I work in measured doses and tell you beforehand what I intend to do.

Mobility gained by hand only lasts if you use the new range. So the technique is always followed by active exercise, usually in the same session.

What manual therapy is not

Manual therapy is often confused with chiropractic. The difference matters: I work with measured, slow mobilisations, not with sudden thrust manipulations. Usually nothing cracks — and if it does, that is neither the aim nor a mark of quality.

Nor is it about putting something "back in place". Vertebrae do not slip out and do not need pushing back. What changes is the mobility of a segment and how the nervous system judges the movement.

And manual therapy alone rarely solves a problem for good. It opens a window. What comes afterwards decides whether it stays open.

Billing

I treat patients with all statutory health insurers, private patients, employers’ liability insurance associations (BG) and self-payers.

Whether your treatment runs on a prescription or as a self-pay service, we clarify before the first appointment — you know in advance what to expect.