23/05/2026
Is visceral manipulation important for daily practise? More than you would expect...
Palpation of the abdomen and palpation of organs should be part of the basic and routine examination. Almost 30-40% of pain originates in the organ, but patients complain of common pains such as back, hip, knee, shoulder, etc. However, a problem with an organ rarely appears in the place where the organ is located. A typical manifestation is, for example, pain in the right shoulder and neck, where the liver or gallbladder presents, stomach presents with pain between the shoulder blades, urinary bladder with sacral pain.
Every physiotherapist have to know visceral patterns.
If an organ is the source of nociception or pathology, the brain tries to create conditions for its protection and healing. This is subsequently reflected in the musculoskeletal system by the formation of the so-called visceral pattern, which is typical for each organ. The visceral pattern is typical of a change in joint mobility in exact segments, the formation of trigger points in exact muscles, the formation of Chapman points, Head zones and a change in tension in muscle chains.
Every physiotherapist should know the so-called visceral patterns, i.e. the presentation of an organ disorder on the musculoskeletal system, or the so-called head zones, i.e. the projection of pain from a specific organ.
A typical example from practice. A patient comes in with a sore shoulder. You try to solve the problem, but the patient tells you that he felt better for 2 days and that therapy didn't help him much. You try to solve the problem again, but it doesn't work much. It is a mistake not to think about visceral problems. The liver and gallbladder typically present in the right shoulder, and the stomach or pancreas in the left.
How does pain originating from an organ typically present?
The pain is not precisely localized - the patient is unable to pinpoint the pain, but indicates a region, area, or part of the body.
The pain is dull rather than stabbing or sharp
Night and rest pain
Painful attachments of a larger number of muscles - multiple active trigger points at once
Chronic pain in a specific area, recurring, poorly responding to manual techniques or device therapies in the given area
Each organ first manifests itself through changes in the musculoskeletal system- joints blockades, trigger points, fascial densifications, hyperalgic zones. So the patient will not visit you with a stomachache, but with pain between the shoulder blades. If the source of the pain is the stomach, exercises or manual techniques for the interscapular area will not work. It is necessary to work with the stomach as the primary. And we have to work with primar source of pain.
Are you unable to help your patients or does their problem come back quickly? The problem may be in the organ.
With visceral manipulation we have great experiences. We teach same course for a years in Slovakia and Czech a our collegues have great results. They are able to solve problems they thought they would never be able to solve. And the same we want for physiotherapists in Baltics.
The course is filling up, don't hesitate to register !
Course dates are October, 23 - 24, 2026 (1 part) and November, 20 - 21, 2026 (2 part)
👉 www.rehathink.com
