Last weekend I had the opportunity to partake in a great educational opportunity right near home at Canadian Forces Base Borden. Thanks to Captain Georgette Mink who organized the event, several physiotherapists (the majority whom were military), had the opportunity to spend the weekend learning techniques from Canadian physiotherapist Dr. Jack Miller.
Jack has a very interesting background, being a Canadian who trained with some of the world’s most well known physios in New Zealand. It was while in New Zealand he met and trained under Brian Mulligan. It was The Mulligan Method (http://www.bmulligan.com/) that Jack spent the weekend imparting on us.
Brian Mulligan developed what he calls NAGS and SNAGS in the 1970’s and 80’s. Since then, Brian and his colleagues have taught these “mobilizations with movement” all over the world. Simply stated, these techniques are a form of manual therapy where the client moves the effected body part, while the therapist imparts a movement on it that reduces the pain. When repeated and supplemented with a home exercise regime, these techniques have been shown to be effective in treating many conditions such as tennis elbow, ankle sprains, neck pain, and low back pain.
I have used some of the Mulligan techniques in my practice for years, but this course allowed me to not only sharpen my skills, but also taught me some brand new techniques. I have already begun to incorporate these new skills into my practice and have been finding them quite effective.
Please don’t hesitate to contact our clinic if you are interested in seeing one of our two Mulligan trained physiotherapists. We also offer a variety of manual therapy, acupuncture, IMS, and exercise techniques.