Joints do not only hinge — the surfaces glide and roll against each other. When that accessory movement is lost, usually after injury or a long period of not moving, the joint feels stiff or blocked even when the muscles around it are fine.
Peripheral joint mobilisation means the joints of the limbs: shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle. Small, controlled, rhythmic movements are applied at the joint to restore that glide.
What it feels like
Gentle and rhythmic — nothing sudden, and no manipulation or clicking. It should not be painful. Range often improves immediately, though it usually takes several sessions plus exercises to hold.
Often paired with soft tissue work
A stiff joint and tight muscles usually arrive together. Releasing the tissue first tends to make the joint respond better.
Which joints, and when
The joints of the limbs — shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle. Most often used for a shoulder that has stiffened up, an ankle that never regained full movement after a sprain, and joints that have been rested or immobilised and now feel blocked.
The spine is not treated this way here.
What it is not
This is not manipulation. There is no high-velocity thrust, no cavitation, and nothing that produces the click people associate with a chiropractor. Grade for grade it is gentler and more gradual — small rhythmic movements at the end of the available range, repeated, to persuade the joint capsule to allow more.
If you want or need manipulation, that is a different practitioner and I will say so.
What to expect
Range often improves inside a single session, sometimes markedly. It also tends to be given straight back if nothing else changes, which is why it is combined with soft tissue work and with exercises that use the new range under load. Expect several sessions for a change that holds.
It should not be painful. Some ache afterwards is normal, sharp pain is not.
When it is not used
Not over an acute fracture, an unstable joint, an active infection, or a joint that is hot and swollen. Tell me if you have osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, or have had a joint replacement in the area — all of these change what is appropriate.