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Research has proposed that manual therapy techniques like this ’pistol grip’ thoracic manipulation I am performing may work by not only altering local tissue responses, but by also altering the way the brain perceives the body. It is thought that stimulation of receptors in our physical tissues may help refresh or sharpen the virtual map of our body in our brain. Whether we are looking at massage, joint mobilization, instrument-assisted techniques or stretching, it may be that the intervention is in part changing the pain response by creating positive plastic changes in the brain. Thoracic manipulations in particular have been shown to be helpful in reducing pain in patients with shoulder pain. However, the exact mechanism by which the pain response changes is not entirely understood and likely varies person to person.
