For Chiropractic patients in Atlanta, the Graston Technique is a very simple manual Chiropractic therapy that AICA uses to stimulate the healing of soft tissue.
After an auto accident, sports injury or pain from overuse that inhibits movement, you may experience strain, pain, and constraint in different muscles, ligaments or joints of your body.
Much of this is due to the accumulation of scar tissue, which forms after an injury.
Details On The Graston Technique
A practitioner of the Graston technique will use metal implements to create micro-tears in the soft tissue under the skin.
These tears help to eradicate the adhesions of the fascia – or the membrane around the muscles and promote renewed blood flow and nerve networks throughout the affected tissue.
For example, an athlete who went to the Chiropractor for an old injury that hampered the extension of his arm across his chest, once treated with the Graston technique and pressure on the tight muscle, was able to make his arm move with almost full range in a matter of minutes.
Chiropractic Health Conditions The Graston Technique Treats
This is a list of the issues that the Graston technique can help:
- Neck pain or strain
- Wrist pain and carpal tunnel syndrome
- Tennis elbow
- Shoulder pain
- Ankle pain
- Lower back pain
- Knee pain
- Foot pain – plantar fasciitis
- Golf elbow
- Fibromyalgia
- Finger pain
Using any combination of 6 stainless steel instruments, a Graston trained practitioner will rub the skin back and forth, which microscopically breaks up the soft tissue under the skin, allowing scar tissue to heal, which restores movement and lessens chronic pain and tension.
Not bad as it may sound, it’s a fast, non-invasive and very natural technique.
- This can help speed other treatments, as the soft tissue is given a new way to heal.
- It can assist the Chiropractor find changes in the soft tissue during the procedure.
- Graston movement using the stainless steel metal instruments take away wear and tear on the providers own hands.
- It helps patients feel better about their care because it provides instant improvement.
- Speeds recovery and rehabilitation
- It helps reduce inflammation, allowing the body to repair and refurbish itself.
- Can reverse chronic symptoms by bringing blood and new nerve growth to scar tissue
Graston and its instruments were invented by athletes who were sick of recovering so slowly from injuries.
The rubbing method leaves the skin red, and though gel is used to lubricate the area when the metal passes back and forth, the patient is going to experience mild discomfort, redness and possibly bruising.
The technique works directly on the membrane underneath the skin, ing scar tissue that was previously static, immobile and cut off from proper nutrients and nerve endings.
The Graston Technique’s Use Across The World
The Graston technique is widely available in the West, and the concept of ing subcutaneous soft tissue from above the skin is quite old.
It’s related to Gua Sha, which is used as a folk remedy across Asia and goes by different names depending on the culture involved.
For example, it’s called “Cao gio” in Cambodia, where locals use coins to do a similar, if not a more lasting job on the skin than Graston, which is commonly called Coining.
If your Chiropractor pulls out a coin, you and says he’s going to give you the Graston Technique, you should run the other way.
Or at least ask to see the Graston emblem on the instrument. Without it, your Chiropractor may not be certified.
