Manual Therapy is a specialized form of physical therapy delivered with the use of the hands. In manual therapy, practitioners use their hands to manipulate muscle tissue and mobilize joints in an attempt to decrease pain, improve local circulation, increase range of motion, and eliminate soft tissue inflammation.

Massage is a manual therapy defined as a clinical approach utilizing skilled, specific hands-on techniques, including but not limited to manipulation / mobilization, used by the physical therapist to diagnose and treat soft tissues and joint structures for the purpose of modulating pain, increasing range of motion (ROM), reducing or eliminating soft tissue inflammation, inducing relaxation, improving contractile and non-contractile tissue repair, extensibility, and/or stability, facilitating movement and improving function.