What is "counterstrain"

Counterstrain is a technique used in osteopathic medicine, osteopathy, physical therapy, and chiropractic to treat somatic dysfunction. It is a system of diagnosis and treatment that uses tender points, which are considered to be produced by inaccurate neuromuscular reflexes. The technique inhibits the reflexes by putting the tissues in a position of ease directly opposite to that of the reflex. The Australian and French osteopathic practitioners use the terms: Jones technique, (correction spontaneous by position), and spontaneous release by position. Counterstrain was developed by Lawrence Jones in 1955 and was originally called “Spontaneous Release by Positioning,” before being termed “strain-counterstrain.”