Faster Recovery:
Graston Technique® therapy will not only accelerate your rehabilitation but you’ll be able to continue working, running, lifting, swimming, training…
Less Treatment Time:
More time for you. In addition to accelerated recovery time your treatment time is also minimized. Typical treatment time is over a four-to-five-week period.
Live Pain FREE:
Graston Technique® therapy has resolved issues for patients that caused them to live with pain for years, sometimes decades. Say goodbye to costly anti-inflammatory and pain medications.
What is Graston?
IASTM aka “Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization,” is a manual therapy approach to musculoskeletal injuries using specifically designed tools. Stainless steel is the most effective material for IASTM. At our office we use specifically Graston tools.
Graston tools are an extremely effective treatment of adhesions and scarring brought on by surgeries, injuries, and overuse of muscles. The practitioner with the use of the tool creates a unique vibration allowing a controlled inflammatory process to facilitate the tissue to begin the healing process, breaking down scar tissue/adhesions in the troubled area, and accelerate the recovery process.
Every cell naturally produces lactic acid as a waste product. Muscles and skin contain significant amounts of blood vessels that drain waste from and bring nutrients to their tissues. But the fascia (connective tissue) between the skin and muscles does not contain a lot of blood vessels. If the fascia thicks from injury, it can get "sticky" and impair proper movement of the body. It can also block the flow of blood and lymph. Lactic acid can build up in this layer and irritate the nerves, resulting in pain.
Graston breaks up the "sticky" fibers, allowing freedom of movement and flow of life blood and drainage of the toxic metabolic waste. Can you see how this facilitates healing? When these "sticky" fibers break up, they micro-bleed, resulting in the redness you see after having Graston done. Healthy tissue will not redden with Graston. Unhealthy tissue does redden as the unhelpful fibers break up.
Graston, when done well, should not bruise the skin or tissue; it should only leave it reddened. If you are bruised by a treatment, it likely was done too roughly. Bruising is caused by damaging tissue, which does not facilitate healing. Again, you can tell if the procedure was effective (versus rough) by the length of time it takes the redness to disappear (which should be within a couple of days) and if it fades (versus turning blue as when bruised).
Why wait?
To learn more about Graston, check out this video by the Graston Technique company:
Why Wait? Click HERE to Schedule!
Dr. Karin's Personal Story
After my motor vehicle crash, I was too tender to handle chiropractic manipulation or even acupuncture. After several weeks, I was relieved when my acupuncturist agreed that I was finally ready for a Gua Sha treatment. Gua Sha uses a spoon instead of a specialized Graston tool, but works off the same principle.
As she scraped the spoon along my paraspinal muscles, I felt a rope of tissue in my mid-back in the exact region I felt the most injured. This told me that my damaged tissues were tightening as they healed, forming unhealthy adhesions that could leave me vulnerable to future injuries and/or re-exacerbations.
The tissue was so tight that as she scraped over it, it tugged at my sides, feeling like it was pulling the periosteum (the membrane that lines the bones) off my ribs. She worked on it for a few more minutes, but the sensation didn’t diminish. As bad as I was, it would take several sessions to work out that tissue. It did eventually work out, and the treatment no longer hurt or caused reddening of the skin, meaning all the bad fibers broke up. I will be forever grateful that I was able to restore normal fluidity of my muscle movement.
If you attempt to work out when your muscles are adhering to your bones aberrantly (be it your chest wall or your neck), your condition can worsen as the muscles strain against these adhesions. Plus, these adhesions reduce the flow of blood in and waste out, making unfavorable conditions for regaining strength in your muscles.
Just because you feel better over time after an injury, it does not mean that you healed well. Your body can get "used" to the "new normal" even if it is an unhealthy one. If you have an injury, don't hesitate!
Why wait?
Aim for a full recovery.
The Graston technique® has the potential to treat acute and chronic conditions such as:
- Tension Headaches
- TMD
- Neck Pain (Cervical Sprain/Strain)
- Shoulder Pain (Rotator Cuff Tendinosis/itis)
- Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylosis/itis)
- Golfer's Elbow (Medial Epicondylosis/itis)
- Wrist Pain (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome)
- Lower back muscle strain or sprain
- TFL and IT Band (Iliotibial Band) injuries
- Hip Pain
- Knee Pain (Patellofemoral Disorders)
- Hamstring Injuries
- Shin splints
- Achilles tendonosis
- Heel Pain (Plantar Fasciitis)
- Ankle Pain (Achilles Tendinosis/itis)
- Fibromyalgia
- Scar Tissue
- Trigger Finger
- Women's Health (Post-Mastectomy and Caesarean Scarring)
If you have had a c-section, we are Graston Trained Specialists and have the tools to help break up the adhesions and soften your c-section scar for a speedier and more full recovery.
To watch our Facebook Video on our treatment of scars, CLICK HERE
Patients with any of the following conditions are not good candidates for Graston treatment:
- Open wounds around the area to be treated
- High blood pressure
- Cancer (depending on the type and location)
- Pregnancy - at a minimum, pregnant women should avoid having the therapy done over the spine, pelvis, abdomen, or along certain acupuncture points
- Unhealed, complicated fractures. See When Back Pain Is a Spine Compression Fracture
- Certain types of kidney disorders
- Taking blood thinners
Why wait?
Soft tissue injuries can be debilitating and frustrating. Graston Technique® (GT) therapy is successful in effectively treating all soft tissue conditions, whether they are chronic, acute or post- surgical. Graston Technique® therapy can help you enjoy life again.
Our unique technique and instruments enable the treatment of scar tissue and fascial restrictions during rehabilitation that allows for faster rehabilitation and with greater success when the goal is restoring range of motion, eliminating pain, and restoring normal function.
We have other instruments and techniques that help facilitate healing and reduce pain.
ART:
Active release technique (ART) involves pinning and stretching tight muscles through movement patterns to decrease muscle tension.
Cupping:
Cupping treatment using suction cups to lift the skin to allow metabolic waste to clear from the muscle.
Functional Movement Assessment:
Functional movement assessment uses a series of movement patterns to find compensations that may be causing your pain or hindering your performance in a certain activity.
Movement Specific Rehabilitation Exercises:
Movement Specific Rehabilitation Exercises are specific stability, mobility, or strengthening exercises designed for whatever movement or activity goals you may have. To learn more about how exercises can help, Click HERE
EMS
To learn more about electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), Click HERE.
RRT
To learn more about the Rapid Release Therapy (RRT) for muscle pain, Click HERE
Graston Certified
To learn more about Graston, Click HERE.
Chiropractic Adjustments And Manipulative Therapy
To learn more about Chiropractic Spinal Adjustments and Manipulative Therapy, Click HERE
Drummond Chiropractic, LLC
Graston Trained Specialists
565 North Walnut Street,
Bloomington, IN 47404
(812) 336-2423