Chiropractic and Sports Medicine practices use many techniques and methods for patient care. Sometimes it can be hard to seek treatment when you aren’t sure what the doctors will do during your appointment. Our office is committed to making sure our patients are comfortable and well informed throughout their entire time in our office. One technique we use for therapy in our office is the Graston Technique.
What Is Graston Technique?
The Graston Technique is an Instrument-Assisted Technique Mobilization (ISATM) used to help treat chronic pain and soft tissue damage. We use a handful of round, soft-edged metal tools. These tools create friction over scarred ligaments. Below is a picture of the instruments we will use during your appointment. Doctors use these tools to break up scar tissue and find areas that are “locked” or restricted. Doctors are able to stretch and release ligaments and tendons. Now a healthy environment can be achieved for good spinal alignment.
The Graston Technique is very popular with sport trainers, physical therapists, chiropractors, occupational therapists and even some massage therapists. Physicians using the Graston Technique, experience a decrease in the total time for rehabilitation. Patients don’t need oral pain medicine to manage their chronic conditions. Patients also experience some neurological improvements that are caused by chronic pain. It is common that this form of therapy can cause temporary and minor inflammation to the site area. This will improve quickly as the blood flow to the area increases. A patient can use ice temporarily to help relieve the minor inflammation caused during their appointment.
How Can This Help Me?
Some chronic conditions that Graston Technique may be helpful for can include tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, lower chronic back pain and more. Call our office and schedule a consultation to discuss how this technique may be beneficial for you. There are some conditions that could prevent this specific technique from being right for your care; if so, we can discuss what therapy would be right for you and how we can incorporate that therapy into your appointments.
*information taken from the following online articles and sources.
http://www.grastontechnique.com
https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/chiropractic/graston-technique-instrument-assisted-soft-tissue-manual-therapy-back-pain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13600457