How the Graston Technique helps get rid of the Scar Tissue

Details: Published on Monday, 01 November 2010 05:00; Hits: 2969

Bio: James A Devine DC

The Graston Technique for reducing pain and restoring mobility and ROM for muscles

When a muscle is torn, you expect the body to repair that tear with new muscle, but this doesn’t happen. The tear, or rupture, is repaired with scar tissue, which is less elastic and more sensitive to pain than normal muscle tissue.

Scar tissue is fibrous and binds itself to the damaged soft tissue fibers in an effort to draw the damaged fibers back together. The result can be a bulky mass of fibrous scar tissue completely surrounding an injury site.

Why scar tissue means loss of strength

Scar tissue is never as strong as the tissue it replaced and has a tendency to contract (shorten) and deform the surrounding tissues, compromising the strength and the flexibility of the soft tissue. For a muscle to attain full power, it must be fully stretched before contraction.

Using a Graston tool, Dr Devine works on the shoulder of a patient with rotator cuff tendinitis. "I instruct patients to tell me if the pressure causes too much pain. If it does, I immediately back off."

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The shortening effect of scar tissue and weakening of the surrounding soft tissues means a full stretch and contraction are not possible, resulting in a loss of strength and power. Depending on the type of injury, areas of scar tissue have to be alleviated in order for the muscles to function properly and not cause further injury.

How the Graston Technique helps get rid of the Scar Tissue

The Graston Technique® allows a practitioner to detect areas of scar tissue formation using specialized concave and convex stainless steel instruments.

What problems benefit from the Graston Technique?

Patients experiencing pain and loss of motion and function following surgery, injury, repetitive stress syndromes, or tendinitis will likely benefit from the Graston Technique. Other conditions which have responded well to the Graston Technique® include:

Cervical sprain/strain (neck pain)
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (wrist pain)
Lateral Epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
Rotator Cuff Tendinitis (shoulder pain)
Achilles Tendinitis (ankle pain)
Shin Splints
Lumbar sprain/strain (back pain)
Plantar Fasciitis (foot pain)
Medial Epicondylitis (golfer's elbow)
Patellofemoral Disorders (knee pain)
Trigger Finger

A medical practitioner uses these tools to “glide” along a patient’s muscle, tendon or ligament with a specific amount of pressure to detect where the scar tissue is located.
When the instrument glides across scar tissue, the practitioner feels the restriction. They then use the Graston instruments to “break up” the adhesion. Applying the right amount of pressure when using the tools is crucial.

Personally, I rely on feel and patient feedback to gauge whether I am applying too much pressure or not bearing down hard enough. I instruct patients to tell me if the pressure causes too much pain. If it does, I immediately back off.

Using cross-friction massage to brush against the grain of the scar tissue, Graston tools separate and break down the fibrous tissue and stretch the connective tissue and muscle fibers. Graston Technique® causes small amounts of trauma to be re-introduced to the affected area, temporarily causing inflammation and increased blood flow in and around the area, which helps to promote healing of the affected soft tissues.

The Graston Technique appointment

Graston sessions are quick, lasting between 2-10 minutes. A couple of minutes of Graston treatment feels like an hour of deep tissue massage.

Dr. Devine works on a patient's hand to reduce scar tissue and improve muscle elasticity with the Graston Technique

I typically see improved range of motion of 15% to 20% at the end of the first Graston session. Pain also is often noticeably reduced. I continue treatments until the patient achieves sufficient flexibility and movement, or is demonstrating a substantial decrease in pain.

Best results are achieved when treatments are applied two days a week for an average of 4-5 weeks, with most patients noticing a positive response by the 3rd and 4th treatment.

Benefits of Graston Technique vs manual tissue massage

The benefit of the Graston Technique® is the amount of improvement that can be achieved in a short amount of time compared to manual soft-tissue mobilization techniques I had been relying on previously.

The instruments enable me to accomplish more in less time during each visit. The instruments are very easy on the hands and I don't experience thumb-joint pain administering therapy as I did when I used only my own hands. From a professional perspective, this is a more efficient method and as a result, I can help more people.