Mobilisation Mode - The Goodback Protocol

The ASMI (Advanced Spinal Mobilisation Instrument) treatment can be used to treat various conditions including sciatica, herniating /bulging discs, pinched nerves, spasms, radicular pain, numbness and tingling, scoliosis, spinal stenosis and sacroiliac joint dysfunction.
ASMI has three settings: AntiSpasm, Reflex and Mobilisation. It is important to realise that mobilisation is not the same technique as spinal manipulation, which can have adverse side effects and often provides no pain relief. It’s a vertebral mobilisation machine, not a “Chiropractic” Back-Cracking Manipulation Machine.

Mobilisation can be used to treat vertebrae that have been moved out of place by old injury and kept in non-optimal place by muscle spasm and or ligaments that have become short and tight. Muscle spasm can be treated by the ASMI’s ‘Spasm’ mode. Mobilisation works on the second part of the equation and puts pressure on alternate vertebrae to move (not adjust) vertebrae relative to each other in what should be their normal ROM (Range of Motion). In simple words, mobilisation “makes the vertebrae unstuck”.
Whereas instant cures can and do happen during one session of ASMI, the general rule is that this a progressive treatment, usually requiring 3-5 sessions of the treatment.

Power and Speed:

I start off most patients at power 1 and build up, the more the session goes on, the more the patient can take.

I switch between working with the handpiece lengthwise and wide. If I’m working say power 3 wide, I’ll often drop to power 2 to do narrow and then build up from there as it is more uncomfortable for the patient working narrow that wide – but it is super useful.

I get the patient in different positions sometimes on the standard plinth (Theraflex plinth) , other times they are rolled up in a ball – like the yoga child’s pose – while on the plinth – this opens the back a lot and can be super useful for the lower spine – well all the spine. This can only be done for a minute at a time as it is a stressful position for the patient. I also use a separate “kneeling chair” and table that they then lean forward onto as a half way house between these other two positions.

These different positions allow me to “get at” different tight bits and some positions work better for some patients that others and I mix it round a bit.

Speed: As a therapist you will want to find your own rhythm. I used to use speed 1 – slowest but I now use speed 3. Do not use higher than that. See what works for you and stick with it so you get use to your rhythm.

Where to start ? You can just “find the spot you want to start” and start but there is another technique some therapists use: Have the hand piece in Reflex mode, tapping away, find the area of the spine you want to work on next, place the hand piece near this area while it is still tapping, then do not switch ‘Stop’ just press the ‘Run’ button in the mobilise section of the buttons. This will switch off the hand piece for a second or two thus enabling you to place the hand piece on the vertebrae where you want it, press down, while it is still off, when the mobilise then starts after this short delay you will then be catching the vertebrae on the upstroke and you can then press down on the hand piece at the end up this upstroke and mobilise the vertebrae in a smooth controlled manner. This may make little sense when reading it here, but when you use the ASMI it’s easier to understand !

Videos:

Standard approach: