Well, we can’t exactly call it that if we aren’t using their tools or their technique, but it is what most people know instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization as. It is also a lot easier to say, so for our intents and purposes, we will call it Graston.
Graston was not the first to perform soft tissue work, as Gua Sha (traditionally performed with stones, bones, and now plastic) has been around for a really long time. Graston was the first to use stainless steel tools to perform soft tissue work.
Now for the all important question. What is soft tissue work, and what is it used for? Great question. Soft tissue work, in the western sense, is usually associated with scar tissue and loosening up tight tissue. This isn’t a bad answer, but it isn’t a complete answer. You can also use soft tissue work to stimulate or depress the nervous system based on how and where you use the tools. We call the movements made by the tools over the tissue “strokes",” and we can speed them up to increase neural activity, and slow them down to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system to relax the neural activity in that area. We can also use tools to increase lymphatic drainage and reduce edema in the body.
In our office in Windsor, WI, we take all of this a step further by adding other popular modalities such as electrotherapy to achieve greater results, while doing less damage to the tissues while working. Our methods also decrease the amount of discomfort that is often experienced during treatments. We have found this not only improves the overall result of the treatment, but it also decreases the amount of time spent recovering from the treatment itself. big changes to IASTM are on the way!