Keys To Fitness
Accessing Your Health Potential with IMT
By Sheila Yonemoto, P.T.
Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006

Manual Therapy refers to treatment rendered by the hands. Physical therapy, massage therapy, occupational therapy, chiropractic, osteopathic, Chinese medicine, and other bodywork systems use the hands as a tool. Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT), developed by Sharon Weiselfish-Giammatteo is a remarkable hands-on treatment system. The IMT philosophy emphasizes using different “tools” for treating different things in the body. Certain individual techniques work better for some problems, but a combination gives a more complete result. The common denominator of all IMT techniques is improving the potential for movement and function. This differs from other forms of medical treatment that may get you functioning again, while not necessarily maximizing your potential.

IMT work assumes the body has its own strategies for maintaining function with the least amount of danger. For example, after flu shots the muscles around the injection point may spasm to keep the vaccine from spreading too quickly throughout the body. This allows time for the body to build up the necessary defenses to fight the flu virus, keeping the body healthy and functioning. A therapist once treated the muscle spasm in her arm immediately after her flu shot which resulted in muscle weakness in her entire arm lasting several weeks. In this case, the muscle spasm directly over the injection site proved to be a lesser evil than the broader weakness of her entire arm.

IMT assumes the body is protecting vital structures and doesn’t try to force a change. Rather, using gentle pressure (usually 5 grams of force, about the weight of a nickel on your finger pad), IMT encourages the body to make a change.

It offers techniques to help the body heal the primary breakdowns that signaled the protective modes in the first place.

IMT has its roots in osteopathy, a form of manual medicine using gentle forces to stimulate healing. It also utilizes energy techniques similar to Eastern medicine. Physics may offer the best explanation. Consider what keeps your hipbones from touching one another when standing. What maintains the space of a joint? You can’t see it, but it’s there. Integrative Manual Therapy manipulates this invisible energy to maximize your body’s potential for healing.

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Sheila Yonemoto, P.T., has been a physical therapist for over 26 years, specializing in Integrative Manual Therapy utilizing a holistic approach. She can be reached at Yonemoto Physical Therapy, 55 S. Raymond Ave., Suite 100, Alhambra, CA  91801. Call (626) 576-0591 for a FREE Consultation, or visit www.yonemoto.com for more information. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.