Massage, Manipulation, and Traction.

Abstract

This is Volume V of the Physical Medicine Library Series, edited by Sidney Licht, M.D., and is by far the most controversial volume of the series. The four previous volumes were: Volume I, Electrodiagnosis and Electromyography; Vol. II, Therapeutic Heat; Vol. Ill, Therapeutic Exercise, and Vol. IV, Therapeutic Electricity and Ultraviolet Radiation. Volume IV was reviewed in theArchives of Neurology, Vol. 1, No. 6, December, 1959. Massage, manipulation, and traction have been used in various ways either rightly or wrongly throughout medical history. Their enthusiasts have usually been overenthusiastic, and their opponents have usually been equally vociferous in relegating them as medieval instruments of the devil. The chief obstacle to a better understanding of these procedures is the inherent subjective nature of the techniques and their responses, making it extremely difficult to conduct well-controlled objective studies of their benefit or harm. Thus, although the editor has sincerely attempted to