Muscle Energy Technique for ERS Dysfunctions of the Upper Thoracic Spine

For an ERS R from C7 to T5:

• Patient places their R arm on your R leg with their whole arm resting and supported on your R thigh.
• Place your R hand gently on top of their head and your L thumb on the L side of the interspinous space of the dysfunctional segment to monitor the motion barriers.
• The patient is initially sitting in a slumped position, but with their head up. Ask the patient to sit up tall from below up by pushing their belly forward until you feel motion at your palpating L thumb.
• Then with your R hand move the patient’s head from an extended position into flexion introducing flexion from above down to your palpating L thumb so that you create an apex for flexion at the dysfunctional segment.
• L side bending is then introduced by translating your R leg to the R to create an apex for L side bending at your palpating L thumb.
• The therapist then adds L rotation thru the head from above down to the dysfunctional segment making sure to go to just the feather edge and not beyond the motion barrier.
• The patient is instructed to gently side bend their head to the R or pull their R arm down on your leg for 5-7 seconds.
• When the patient relaxes you introduce additional L side bending to the new motion barrier by translating your R leg further to the R.
• You repeat 3 to 4 times then reassess.