The treatment of joints by passive movement

When physiotherapists think of joints being treated by passive movement they usually think of stretching, whereas the treatment of pain by this means is very little appreciated. Even with stretching techniques, many people think that stretching is carried out by taking the joint to the limit of its range and simply pushing; for example, they think that if a patient's shoulder is stiff, passive movement means merely taking his arm to the limit of elevation and then pushing it further into elevation. The intention of this paper is to explain how stretching is carried out, and to explain how passive movement treatment is applied in other joint situations with particular emphasis on the treatment of pain.