Strain Counterstrain is a manual therapy technique, meaning clinicians use only their hands for treatment of muscle and joint pain. It uses passive body positioning of hypertonic (spasmed) muscles and dysfunctional joints toward positions of comfort or tissue ease that compress or shorten the offending muscle.

Strain Counterstrain (SCS) is the fourth most commonly used osteopathic manipulative technique following soft tissue tech-niques, high velocity low amplitude thrust, and muscle energy
technique.  Also known as positional release, SCS is a passive positional technique aimed at relieving musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction through indirect manual manipulation.

It describes a theoretical model of neuro-musculo-skeletal dysfunction where a mechanical strain injury leads to changes in muscle spindle biasing around the involved segment known as the Proprioceptive Theory.

SCS is typically used to treat orthopedic disorders involving pain,
fascial tension, local edema, joint hypomobility, muscle spasm,
muscle dysfunction or weakness.