Dermo Neuro Modulating: Manual Treatment for Peripheral Nerves and Especially Cutaneous Nerves Hardcover – November 25, 2016

DNM is a manual therapy approach which seems to be most consistent with modern pain science. As a Hellerwork Structural Integration practitioner I worked for years under the assumption that I was changing the structure of the body by manipulating fascia. Most research now refutes the idea that we can have any direct effect on structure whatsoever. Hellerwork is effective bodywork. That is not being questioned. The explanatory model however is incorrect it seems. Diane Jacobs is advancing the idea that none of us have ever effected any kind of change in the body through anything but the nervous system. By touching skin, we are connecting through the cutaneous nerves to the central nervous system and this communication is what helps the "patient" shift. She quite clearly lays out a new approach to working with another human being. The model is shifted from therapist as operator to therapist as interactor. This is an extraordinarily humanistic approach to therapy which helps build self-efficacy in the patient which is the most important factor in assuring change. This book is absolutely essential for every manual therapist.

This should be required reading for anyone using their hands to help people in pain.I've followed Diane's writings online and attended her course in person. This book takes all the best of her ideas and puts them in a very easy reading format, but at the same time includes copious references. For those that have attended Diane's course, the treatment section is very nearly identical to what is included in the more recent editions of the DNM course manual. But even having several variations on the manual I find the book (ebook in my case) to be a valuable addition. The beginning of the book gives an overview of principles, including numerous clinical pearls. For those that just want to learn enough to put this manual therapy framework "to work", the information in the beginning chapters will likely satisfy this desire. But I highly suggest reading to the end, as the principles are all repeated, in greater detail. The repetition increases and deepens understanding which is really what learning DNM is about. Understanding the enormous complexity of the pain experience and how all facets of an evaluation and treatment encounter can have effects on a person's experience, ranging from subtle to enormous. Thank you Diane!

What a great book this is! I do a form of traditional Finnish bonesetting where the main focus is on the skin and light + mindful touch. After getting to know DNM and pain science research, my thoughts about manual therapy have shifted a lot (such as concentrating more on quality of touch and not just the treatment techniques and paying more attention to how I communicate with clients). This is a must-read for everyone who's involved in any form of manual therapy.

Diane's book is a wonderful guide for learning how to place manual therapy within a biopsychosocial framework of treatment (rather than the traditional structural, biomedical approach). DNM is more of a framework than a method and I have found it quite a relief to practice in this way, as opposed to thinking you need to or are trying to change structure with your hands. This book (and Diane's website) advocates for a more interactive approach and that what you are actually doing with manual therapy is working with the nervous system, which is more in line with current thinking in pain science. The approach is gentle, seeking to ease pain output rather than inflict added nociception; it is also easy on the practitioner's body. I have also taken an in person weekend class from Diane learning DNM and highly recommend it...although plenty can be gained from just reading and practicing the applications from the book.

Dr. Jacobs provides an applicable manual illustrating how to implement DNM with your patients immediately. Having taking continuing education courses on manual techniques like muscle energy and postural release, and on the other side experimenting with active-release-like and mobilization-with-movement-like techniques, I found Dr. Jacob's honest and evidence based approach refreshing, as it provided a modern context to many of these foundational manual schools. Her perspective of the clinician taking the role of an interactor than an operator is something that every clinician should consider adopting. The illustrations are in color and are very helpful, and she provides her perspective in essays towards the end of the text. I look forward to implementing more of DNM with my future patients.

I've been a manual and massage therapist since 1994, and am also an educator and curriculum writer in the profession. This is HANDS-DOWN a must have in your library, and if I had to pick only one textbook recommendation for any program, this is the one. It is one of the very few that is in line with the most current understandings of neuroscience and touch physiology.Clearly and beautifully written. Clean easy-to-follow images. A resource you will continue to reach for and learn from again and again. Mine is so worn from reading and rereading! And that's a good thing :) And the price options are extremely accessible for anyone. Don't hesitate and just add it to your cart. This is coming from someone who screens textbooks for a living ;)

This is such a gentle and effective way to release the protective guarding in the neuro/vascularture in the skin held by the sympathetic nervous system. The skin, the largest sensory organ we have!

An amazing book for all those treat pain with their hands into a BPS model.I would have liked to see something like this fundamentals at the university, but now i have the paperback and i can say thanks Dr. Jacob for this masterpiece.

nice map to grommet holes where nerves can be endangered. Not all nerves are there; you need to hit an anatomy book for some large and significant nerves that are not here, which is a surprise. Motor nerves are subject to the same stresses but are barely mentioned, so definitely you need to look at motor nerves in another book. But the concept is great and you can apply it once you learn it. Just that you will need more nerve diagrams to get them all. Author's vitriolic attitudes towards any manual therapy approach is over the top and unreasonable since this is a manual therapy approach, quite physical in spite of her belief that it is entirely exclusively neural reprogramming and her treatment is essentially osteopathic in nature. There are disparaging sections violently dismissing other forms of therapy, which is quite inappropriate. Try to ignore that. I do not regret learning this technique and am glad I own the book, wish it was more thorough and wish it had the nerves listed in an index / table of contents. Finding what you want is maddening. I had to make my own index. There are some well known anatomical risks to some nerves that are not mentioned, so this book is not all encompassing.

If you understand what your doing, then you can do it better.A paraphrase from a later section in the book. I’ll let you find it. None-the-less, a valuable demonstration of a plausible explanation of what manual therapy is “doing” and an extrapolation of relevant principles.I read it in reverse - info first, and protocols second. It was a very engaging read; for me anyway.Many cool pictures to boot.

Questo splendido libro, frutto dello studio e lavoro trentennale della fisioterapista Diane Jacobs, inizia a colmare il gap tra teoria e pratica della terapia manuale alla luce delle novità emerse negli ultimi decenni sulla scienza del dolore (Gibbson, Butler,Moseley, neuromatrix,....) e la visione biopsicosociale della persona, dell'interazione tra esseri umani, della visione del terapista come facilitatore e molte molte altre cose. And the best is yet to come.

Fantastic contribution to any professional dealing with people experiencing pain. Diane Jacobs is well grounded in the scientific literature and balances this wonderfully with her many years of clinical experience and with her innovative and contrarian mind. If you want to learn how to interact more effectively as a therapist or bodyworker, you need to read this book. It also provides a much more plausible understanding of the power of touch and gentle handling than most of the belief systems propagated in the treatment of pain.

What a great resource! I've been struggling in my physiotherapy practice to find useful and applicable treatment techniques for my clients who haven't responded well to more "traditional" manual therapy techniques. This book clearly outlines the techniques and made it quick and easy to integrate into my practice. I would highly recommend this book to all those manual therapists out there.