Positional Release Therapy (PRT) is an osteopathic method of soft tissue manipulation to relieve pain. Others common names for this osteopathic technique, with slight individual variations, include Strain Counterstrain and Orthobionomy. An osteopath named Lawrence Jones developed PRT. PRT is often referred to as Strain Counter-strain, a neuro-muscular technique that involves identification of a trigger point. Stimulation of painful, lactic acid-filled trigger points “refer” a sensation of pain to some other part of the body. This elaborate neuromuscular mechanism is the result of nerve connections that developed embryologically between the skin, muscles, and organs. In PRT, the practitioner passively moves the patient’s body into a positional of ease that relieves the referred pain and then holds the holds position and directs the “release. ” This “release” can cause a cascade of other tissue releases, often referred to as the “unwinding.”
This principal of putting people in the position of ease, or exaggerating the postural abnormality, follows the homeopathic principal of treating “Like with Like”. A common illustration of this principal is the shoelace. One would not loosen a knot in a shoelace by pulling both ends tighter (Direct Work). Instead, one would scrunch the knot to first let it unravel, then pull or stretch the lace (Indirect Work). PRT as taught by physical therapist Denise Deig seamlessly combines strain Counter-strain holds, Feldenkrais unwinding, and Physical Therapy Post Isometric Stretches to aid in myofascial releases.