Chiropractic Care

One of the auxiliary techniques I learned while I was in chiropractic school was the Graston Technique. Extensively used by athletes, the majority of American athletes know about it. The Graston Technique is a manual soft tissue technique invented by an athlete named David Graston. Because he was having problems recovering from a knee injury he sustained while water skiing, he got to thinking about the normal manual massage style therapy and he took it one step further and  decided to design a set of tools to assist with his rehab. He based this on the concept of cross-friction massage, developed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Cyriax.

The Graston Technique is basically an instrument-assisted, soft tissue mobilization therapy. It is beneficial in breaking up fascial restrictions, scar tissue adhesions, and detecting areas of chronic inflammation and/or fibrosis.  Graston has been known to help conditions such as a cervical sprain/strain, tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow, lumbar sprain/strain, rotator cuff tendinosis, and even Achilles tendinosis. Graston works  by utilizing one of six stainless steel tools to diagnose and treat a certain condition. Designated areas of the body use certain tools to break up adhesions, so that the healing process may start immediately. I do warn people that they may experience redness or bruising in the next day or two, and they may also be sore.

Graston has been known to decrease treatment time and reduce a patient’s need for NSAID medication. 

Every ART session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements. These treatment protocols – over 500 specific moves – are unique to ART. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART is not a cookie-cutter approach.

ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles. Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways: acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc), accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma), not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia). Each of these factors can cause your body to produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue binds up and ties down tissues that need to move freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness.

Functional exercise involves training  targeted core muscles of the abdomen and lower back. It teaches the body proper movement patterns by strengthening the muscles of the low back, glutes, and hamstrings. It helps to take stress off the spine, discs, and knees and places it on the larger, more powerful joints such as the hips. The spine is designed to give the body stability and protection and by strengthening the muscles surrounding the spine will help with inflammation, pain, degeneration, and deterioration of  the vertebrae and discs.  This redistribution of stress and strengthening of the muscles that support the spine and intervertebral discs can help bring relief of a variety of conditions including:

• Chronic back pain
• Sciatica
• Back surgery prevention and/or recovery
• Injury prevention
• Herniated/bulging disc
• Core athletic strength
• Prepare the body for competition/athletic events such as:  Running, cycling, basketball, football, baseball, hockey, soccer, and weightlifting.