What is mobilisation?
Mobilisation means the physiotherapist moves a stiff joint slowly with their hands, in small or large swings, and you can feel it happen. The movement is gentle enough that you could stop it.
The aim is to give a joint a little more room to move, so that exercises afterwards go further.
Why does it matter for a patient or family?
Stiffness is a common reason people avoid moving, and avoiding movement makes the stiffness worse. Mobilisation can break that loop for a while.
It is most useful after a cast comes off, in a stiff shoulder, or in an ankle that will not bend. It does not replace strengthening, so ask what exercise follows it.
An everyday example in Ipoh
Imagine a man whose ankle was in a cast after a fall at a badminton hall. The cast is off but he cannot squat or go down the steps at his front gate.
The physiotherapist glides the ankle gently forwards and back, then asks him to squat. He goes lower than he did at the start of the visit.
Related terms
- Manual therapy: the wider group of hands-on techniques.
- Manipulation: a quicker, smaller thrust, not the same thing.
- Range of motion: the distance a joint can move.
- Contracture: a joint or muscle that has become fixed in a shortened position.
Where it fits in our care
Stiff joints are common after surgery, fractures and long periods in bed. See frozen shoulder, joint stiffness and ankle stiffness after a cast for how we plan around them.