Muscle Energy is a type of Osteopathic Manipulation, which uses the muscular component of the body to restore balance in an area of dysfunction.
 
Osteopathy was developed by Andrew Taylor Still, M.D. (1828 – 1927) in 1874.  He was disenchanted with the medical practice of the day, which led to the formation of a new philosophy of treatment. That philosophy emphasizes a balance of the musculoskeletal system including 5 basic components:
 
  • The unity of the body 
  • The healing power of nature, in that the body has within itself all the things necessary for the maintenance of health and the recovery from disease. 
  • The somatic component of disease, alterations of the musculoskeletal system affected total body health and the ability to recover from injury or disease. 
  • Structure-function interrelationship, the belief that structure governed function and function influenced structure. 
  • The use of manipulative therapy and the belief that restoration of the body’s maximum functional capacity would enhance recovery from injury and disease.
Muscle Energy was developed by Fred Mitchell Sr. DO (1909 - 1974) in 1948. Believing that the pelvis is the key to the musculoskeletal system, this system could also be defined as “Mitchell’s Biomechanical Model of the Pelvis”.
Years later, manual medicine pioneers Phil Greenman DO and Fred Mitchell Jr. DO wrote a series of books that are considered the principal texts on the subject.

MET DEFINITION

Muscle Energy Technique (MET) is a manual medicine treatment procedure that involves the voluntary contraction of a patient’s muscle in a precisely controlled direction, at varying levels of intensity against a distinctly executed counterforce applied by the operator (Greenman).