PHILIPPE SOUCHARD

Souchard graduated in Physiotherapy at the Paris University in 1962. He is the founder and director of the Université de Thérapie Manuelle (Manual Therapy University), located in Saint Mont - France, and the author of 13 books. More than 4.500 physiotherapists from 10 different countries attended his RPG courses. He gives continuous RPG specialization courses in Spain, Belgium, Italy, Brazil, Portugal, Canada, France, Argentine and Swiss.

BASIS OF THE RPG

RPG starts from the symptom to get at the cause of a skeletal muscle problem or pain because it considers that we all have our own ways for resisting and to reacting to injuries or traumas.

When a patient complains of acute pain in the shoulder just after an injury, the cause of that pain is clear and a local treatment will usually suffice. But another patient may have adopted a pattern of raising one shoulder in order to avoid putting too much weight on a sprained ankle on the opposite side. In this case, a chain of compensation probably began in the calf muscles, which increased their tonus to protect the ankle joint; this in turn resulted in an increased tonus of the hamstrings and of the erector spinae muscles and this culminated in a raised shoulder. If this shoulder was kept permanentelly in this position, the patient may end up with a scapular pain. Of course, the PT can not expect the patient to connect his present shoulder pain to a past event. Only by using the RPG method can the PT establish that connection between the symptom (the shoulder pain) and cause of the problem (the retraction of muscular chains following an ankle sprain).

THE TREATMENT

During each session, the PT employes a series of gentle and progressive therapeutically sustained postural stretchings in standing, sitting or lying down positions. The frequence of the sessions and the duration of the treatment depend on the patients problem. The therapy sessions usually last 90 minutes.

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RPG PATIENTS WORKS

RPG patients are required to actively participate in the therapy sessions. During a session, they work in their body, stretching the tense muscles while strengthening at the same time the weak muscles, following the chain that is causing the pain or deviation.

RPG APPLICATION