Technique of the Month Results: January 2019


Check out the RESULTS from the January 2019 Technique of the Month!

  • With no audio, 78% (39/50) of respondents indicated their 1st choice to classify the demonstrated technique was Articulatory or Still Technique. 92% (46/50) of respondents indicated their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice was Articulatory or Still Technique.
  • With audio, 80% (31/39) of respondents indicated their 1st choice to classify the demonstrated technique was Articulatory or Still Technique. 90% (35/39) of respondents indicated their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice was Articulatory or Still Technique.
  • 64% (32/50) of respondents indicated that they currently use Articulatory or Still Technique in their practice.


Respondents’ 1st choice to classify the demonstrated technique


What did respondents have to say when they learned the technique demonstrator classified the technique as Articulatory or Still Technique?

  • Respondents who Agreed with Classification of the Demonstrated Technique
    • “A nice technique approach. Perhaps part of the AT Still ‘exaggeration technique’ category. Good to ensure the pts other arm/hand (right)  is rested on abdomen or chest ..you never know when perhaps a capsular disturbance may be present in the other shoulder (right) and having the (R) arm fall off the side of the table … forcing anterior capsule structures could induce further problems ….”
    • “I liked the supine position- it was a variation on the sidelying Spencer technique obviously to me.”
  • Respondents who Disagreed with Classification of the Demonstrated Technique
    • “Yes, I agree 100 % articulatory but by definition Still technique is indirect to direct. Examiner verbally was engaging a barrier and bouncing it then taking it thru its motion. For sure articulatory but not ‘Still’ as I know it to be. This understanding thru me off listening to the video. I had to fit other choices where you are engaging ligaments of the joint LAS and in most simplest description is soft tissue post  Listening”
    • “I do Still’s according to Vanbuskirk in a indirect–> direct motion that is smooth and get an articulation. When I do articulatory, I am also moving through a ROM but not as abrupt or jostling and may get an articulation through ROM or at the end ROM. I don’t do soft tissue and would not do anything looking like this technique of bouncing through the joint capsule.”


What about the person who demonstrated the technique? What did they say when they read the comments from the respondents?

  • “I realized after re-watching the video that I performed a combined technique with both articulatory and soft tissue components.”


Notes from the DO-Touch.NET Technical Staff

  • From the comments, we realized that the labels for the technique categories may have caused some confusion. For example instead of labeling the first category as “Articulatory/Still Technique”, it would have been clearer if it was labeled as “Articulatory or Still Technique”.
  • In future installments of the Technique of the Month, we will be allowing respondents to save their responses and return later to complete the survey.
  • Also, we will be adding closed captioning to the video with audio, and are investigating options for translating the transcript into languages other than English.


Did you miss your chance to review the January 2019 Technique of the Month video? Check it out and see whether you agree that the technique demonstrated falls into the category of Articulatory or Still Technique.

Our thanks to Brian Degenhardt for demonstrating this Technique of the Month and to our volunteer patient, Corey Sanford!


What do you think about the classification of this demonstrated technique as Articulatory or Still Technique? Let’s talk about this below!


3 thoughts on “Technique of the Month Results: January 2019”

  1. I cannot really recognise a soft tissue component in your technique. The focus is absolut on the joint and the mobilizing movements are following only articulatory structures. The only way to reach the joint is going with your hand grip through the soft tissue but was there a treatment?

  2. Thank you for your comment Almut. One of the purposes of the Technique of the Month is to do exactly this, critically look at what we do and learn how to more consistently report what we do in our treatments. While my intention with this technique was to perform an articulatory technique, at approximately 1 minute and 20 seconds into the video, I momentarily performed a move that made me consider that I might have a soft tissue component with the technique. The definition of a soft tissue technique based on the Glossary of Osteopathic Terminology in the Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine, 3rd edition, is “a direct technique that usually involves lateral stretching, linear stretching, deep pressure, traction and/or separation of muscle origin and insertion … .” It was for that reason I offered my own self reflection that the technique had some soft tissue components. To be clear, the technique I performed is best categorized as an articulatory technique.

  3. Thank you for your detailed answer Brian. Perhaps the shoulder with its large soft tissue part favors a smooth transition of the two categories. But it cleared up my question and I think I now can recognise in the video what you meant.

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