Posztizometrikus relaxáció

Postisometric relaxation (PIR) - one of the safest methods of manual therapy. It consists of restores the physiological mobility of restricted or spastic muscles through tension and subsequent relaxation.

Medical indications for PIR:

muscular-trophic and neurodystrophic syndromes of the musculoskeletal system (spine, joints)
pain in the neck, shoulders, upper limbs
shoulder and neck periarthritis
headaches due to degenerative-dystrophic changes in the cervical spine
headache and head cramps, facial cramps, neck cramps
dorsalgia, lumbalgia and other pain myofascial syndromes of the spine
arthritis of the knee and hip joints, temporomandibular joint pain
hernia, herniation, spinal instability

How does it work?

The method is based on muscle isometric tension and subsequent stretching. Tensed painful knots and a shortened muscle are stretched painlessly to their limits and then offered to the patient to reduce it, overcoming the doctor's resistance. After 5 to 10 seconds of muscle tension, the refractor phase (lack of protective reaction to mobilisation) begins, allowing the joint to increase its mobility. Such exercises are repeated 4-5 times in succession for one exposure zone. The effect on one zone (e.g. the cervical spine) lasts 5-10 minutes during a session.

PIR includes 2 phases of exposure:

1. isometric muscle tension, when trying to overcome the patient's moderate resistance to movement in the opposite direction (performed for 5-10 seconds on inhalation)
2. muscle relaxation and passive weak stretching performed by the patient, in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the muscle (performed for 10-20 seconds on exhalation)