This well-researched, richly illustrated book begins with an overview of the biomechanics of trauma. The authors demonstrate how an osteopathic-based mechanical approach to trauma can be applied to the entire body, with a special focus on the phenomenon of whiplash. From here they move on to a functional-anatomical approach, focusing on the skull and other aspects of the central nervous system, as well as the structures that surround and protect it. Finally, they view trauma from the perspective of how it affects the different tissues and systems of the body, including the osteoarticular, visceral, and vascular systems, and the various sequelae that can occur in each of these systems.

Having presented an osteopathic interpretation of trauma, the authors apply some of their own unique methods of osteopathic diagnosis, particularly with regard to those structures that are often affected by trauma: the dural tube, cranial sutures, craniofacial membranous junction, mediastinum, and spleen. The book concludes with a description of manual techniques devised by the authors to treat some of the more recalcitrant sequelae of trauma.

'The tissues possess an infallible memory for trauma . . Everything is recorded in them.'

'A certain progression of testing and evaluation is essential to demonstrate the unexpected effects of traumatic sequelae, particularly if the injury is an old one.'

'Tissues can only be treated if the osteopath respects them. The right key can easily unlock the door.' 

Jean-Pierre Barral & Alain Croibier