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A two-day, hands-on course on assessing and treating the lumbar, thoracic and cervical spine through function. Learn to read how the spine moves in all three planes, find what helps your patient move better, and turn your assessment directly into treatment and exercise.

Course overview

Much of what we were taught about the spine focuses on static posture and isolated segments. Yet the evidence does not support a single “correct” posture, and systematic reviews have found no consensus that spinal postures or physical exposures cause low back pain. What patients bring to the clinic is a problem with function: how they move, load and tolerate activity.

This two-day course takes a functional approach to the spine. Drawing on the principles of Applied Functional Science® (Gray Institute, USA), modern myofascial physiology and pain science, you will explore how the lumbar, thoracic and cervical spine move and are loaded in three planes, and how the whole body’s chain reaction influences each region.

The course is predominantly practical. You will learn a systematic, top-down and bottom-up functional assessment for each region, then use what you find to build treatment: manual techniques, facilitated movement and graded, individualised exercise. Clinical case discussions, from a runner with spondylolisthesis to a golfer with buttock pain, bring it together.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course you will be able to:

•Describe the three-dimensional osteokinematics of the lumbar, thoracic and cervical spine and how they relate to whole-body function and gait

•Explain current concepts in myofascial physiology and loading, and how they inform assessment and exercise

•Reconcile biomechanical reasoning with current pain science, including graded exposure

•Perform a functional assessment of each spinal region, using top-down and bottom-up chain reactions to identify planar restrictions and overload

•Turn assessment findings into treatment, using manual techniques, facilitated movement and individualised exercise

•Assess and manage adult non-pathological scoliotic curves from a functional perspective

Timetable

Day 1

09:00 Registration

09:30 Principles of applied biomechanics – lecture

10:30 Osteokinematics and myofascial loading in function – lecture and practical

11:00 Break

11:15 Osteokinematics of the lumbar spine – lecture

12:00 Loading the lumbar spine – practical

12:30 Lunch

13:30 Functional assessment of the lumbar spine – practical

14:30 Treatment techniques for the lumbar spine – practical and case discussion

16:00 Osteokinematics of the thoracic spine – lecture and practical

17:30 End of day 1

Day 2

09:30 Functional assessment of the thoracic spine – practical

10:15 Treatment techniques for the thoracic spine – practical

11:15 Break

11:30 Osteokinematics of the cervical spine – lecture

12:00 Functional assessment of the cervical spine – practical

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Functional assessment of the cervical spine (continued) – practical

15:00 Treatment techniques for the cervical spine – practical

16:00 Adult scoliotic curves: assessment and management – group work

17:00 Q&A and open discussion

17:30 End of day 2

Suitable for

Osteopaths, physiotherapists and chiropractors, and final-year students on these programmes.

Tutor

Francesco Contiero is a Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist and Sports Osteopath based in London, working at Complete Physio and Health in Motion. His clinical work combines physical and functional assessment and rehabilitation with diagnostic and interventional ultrasound, injection therapy and independent prescribing. He trained in physiotherapy at the University of Padua and holds an MSc in Osteopathy and a PgCert in Academic and Clinical Education from the University College of Osteopathy, with further postgraduate qualifications in musculoskeletal ultrasound, independent prescribing (University of Birmingham) and soft tissue and joint injection therapy (City St George’s, University of London). He is a Fellow of Applied Functional Science (Gray Institute, USA). From 2016 to 2022 he was Lead Lecturer in Neuroscience and Clinical Neurology at UCO, and he has taught CPD courses in neurodynamics and applied biomechanics in the UK and Italy since 2019.

Delegate feedback

"Francesco Contiero has both a great command of the subject and is able to communicate it clearly and with enthusiasm. Excellent."

Course suitability

The course is suitable for osteopaths, physiotherapists, chiropractors and third and fourth year students.