Over the last few weeks many patients in my clinic have seen me roaming around the hall holding a shiny, metal, dagger looking instrument; therefore, I get consecutive questions about what “what the heck is that thing?!” As scary as the tool might look to the normal person, I assure them that it is a specialized technique that I use on patients with chronic muscle issues, knots, massive inflammation, or sports injuries. The technique successfully breaks up the adhesions in their body in order to allow patients to heal more quickly and efficiently. With that being said, I thought there was no better topic for a blog this week than to explain the science, research, and enhanced results around the technique, and explain why my patients just cannot get enough of this manual therapy.
The Graston Technique is soft-tissue instrument-assisted mobilization where I gently scrape the skin to identify and break up scar tissues and restriction in the muscle. This is a new technique to the rehabilitation and therapy realm that is only practiced by physicians licensed in Graston. Patients will experience a reduction in pain and increase in function over the course of using this technique due to the break down of scar tissue and fascia restrictions as well as stretching connective tissues in the soft tissue. Scar tissues are acquired when there is trauma or damage to the soft tissue, and until now physicians have really had nothing but surgical outlets to try to alleviate these adhesions. Thanks to Graston, physicians can now conservatively treat the muscle trauma, and get patients back to pre-traumatic status without doing extensive and invasive surgeries.
Over time, the tissue being treated with rearrange in structure to formulate stronger muscle, fascia, tendons, and ligaments. There is also an extensive neurological benefit produced by Graston Technique that works hand in hand with chiropractic adjustments. During the treatment, nerve fibers are activated and cause the body to acquire a greater sense of proprioception and mechanoreception which is extremely important for athletic performance. Overall the technique has been found to be beneficial for all people of all ages in order to repair more quickly and efficiently. See the list below for all the benefits of Graston Therapy.
- Decrease overall Treatment Time
- Faster Rehabilitation and Recovery to get back to play or activity more quickly
- Reduced need for anti-inflammatory medications and surgical routes
- Resolve Chronic conditions of arthritis, degeneration, or chronic muscle knots (AKA: chronic low back pain, plantar fascitis, frozen shoulder, chronic neck arthritis, long time sports injuries) – And I’m sure all your other Doctors told you these were permanent issue, didn’t they?
- Increased mobility, range of motion, and performance
Stop in to Optimal Chiropractic today at our Crown Point, Indiana location or call us at 219-661-8680 to discuss more how this new, innovative technique can help you get out of pain and stay out of pain!
