Neural Manipulation (NM) is a precise manual therapy developed through the clinical work of world-renowned French Osteopath and Physical Therapist Jean-Pierre Barral. French Osteopath Alain Croibier collaborated with Jean-Pierre Barral to develop NM. The BI courses are based on clinical techniques personally developed by Jean-Pierre Barral combined with Alain Croibier’s scientific information.
Neural Manipulation facilitates free movement of the nerves in their surroundings; that is, in relation to adjacent muscles, fascia, narrow passages in the aponeurosis, organs and bones. A nerve only functions optimally when it is able to move freely in its surrounding tissues. The key in NM is to find the most significant area of reduced mobility. According to Barral, mobilizing a nerve focuses on facilitating neural glide both in terms of its surrounding extra neural tissue and intra neural connective tissue layers. This distinguishes Barral’s work from other neural stretching. We must consider the fascial rings and tunnels in which nerves exist and restore the slide of the nerves within these structures to enhance their function. Performing a mobilization on the nerve fixation will free the nerve and will help restore the proper signaling to the compromised structures it innervates and therefore improve the function of those structures, such as muscle, organ, or fascia.
There are considerable benefits to practitioners and clients who combine John F. Barnes’s Myofascial Release (MFR) approach with Neural Manipulation. NM combined with MFR therapy can enhance the body’s natural healing process.
