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Mulligan Concept

Mulligan manual therapy was developed by New Zealand physical therapist Brian Mulligan after 40 years of clinic practice.

According to Mulligan, trauma, poor posture, weakness and/or repetitive movement can lead to "positional faults" in joints. These positional faults can lead to:

• Loss of joint movement
• Pain with movement or
• Pain associated with specific functional activities

The cornerstones of the Mulligan concept are the manual techniques of SNAGS (sustained natural apophyseal glides) and MWM's (mobilization with movement). In these techniques, the therapist applies a passive mobilization to the joint and the patient actively contracts the surrounding musculature.

Together, the therapist's passive movement and patient's active movement combine to correct the positional fault.