If you are an active sports person or spend long hours working on a desk, then you probably know how discomforting muscle pains can be. You can avoid these pains by visiting Graston therapy sessions for treatment.
This will ensure that you perform your tasks better and with ease. Almost 30 million adolescents and children participate in sports in the United States. This has brought an increase in the number of injuries.
1. What Is the Graston Technique?
The Graston technique is a form of manual therapy that uses stainless steel tools to release adhesions and tension in the muscles. Additionally, it is used to release the tension on tight knots in the body and the scar tissue.
Graston technique can be done on people of all ages. To perform this technique, they require special Graston tools to ensure that the tensed muscles feel relaxed. There are around six different Graston tools that are used to treat different parts of the body.
2. How the Graston Technique Works
The Graston technique involves therapy sessions. It carried out by a professional who knows what he or she is doing and knows how to handle the Graston tools. This technique uses friction on the affected body tissues using six different Graston tools.
The tools vary in size and purpose; this is to ensure that your muscles tension is released. Before beginning the therapy session, the physician scans your body to find your scar tissues and muscle knots.
The affected area usually feels bumpy, and this is how the therapist knows where to work on. Additionally, the affected area can appear red, and the patients can help identify the affected area when you are scanning their body.
When the therapists find the affected area, they change the tool and start using a smaller stainless steel tool. This tool is used to focus more on specific areas and help release muscle tension.
During the first session, the Graston therapist uses less pressure and intensity. As the session progresses, more pressure is applied to ensure that the muscles tension is released. The best results are achieved after a continuous performance of the sessions.
However, there should be a break between the sessions, usually around 48 hours. This is to ensure that you don’t strain the body muscles and give your body time to heal and the muscles to relax.
3. Benefits of Graston Technique
Graston technique is critical in treating injuries. Its ability to reduce pain helps improve comfort and bodily functions. Additionally, it helps to repair damaged muscles.
• Reduces Pain and Improves Body Function
Scar tissues can be very painful, and it can prove hard to get rid of all the pain. Using the Graston technique, you can reduce upper back pain. Athletes often suffer from muscle tension, which causes pain in every movement. This causes them to attend various pain therapy sessions to ease the pain.
The use of the Graston technique aligns the muscles and ensures that the person feels great. When the pain decreases, their performance rate increases. Intense back pain hinders athletes not reach their full potential. Treating this pain unlocks their abilities, and they can deliver great results.
This technique also reduces pain to people who are always sitting on desks the whole day. This can cause them to have muscle knots due to the position they are always in. Helping them relieve the pain can increase their work output.
• Treats Chronic Conditions
This technique is used to treat both chronic and acute pain conditions. Though it is mostly used as part of a larger treatment plan. It is used to manage some conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome and neck pains.
If you have been suffering from prolonged neck pain, and you have tried various pain therapy sessions. It is time to try out the Graston technique to relieve pain and muscle tension.
Additionally, chronic pains like plantar fasciitis, heel pain, and rotator cuff tendinitis can be hard to treat. Most athletes and ballet dancers tend to have feet related pain. This is because they are always on their feet, and they tend to strain their feet muscle.
When they get these chronic pains on their feet and heel, they tend not to perform well. A chiropractor needs to come up with ways to manage their pain so that they can get on their feet again.
• Activates Mechanoreceptors
Mechanoreceptors and proprioceptors help strengthen and repair damaged muscles. When you are using the Graston technique to relieve pain and heal your muscles, you activate the nerve fibers.
Also, you activate the body sensory receptors, which help in transferring of nerves to the brain. The nerve fibers are responsible for transferring messages of pain.
They allow your brain to register the pain from a burn or a prick. These nerves are the one responsible for transferring the pain you feel on your muscles due to muscle tension or scar pains.
When the mechanoreceptors are activated, they help in repairing the muscles. This reduces the pain you might be feeling. Additionally, they help in reducing scar pain and ensure that your muscles are strong.
Strong muscles help you run your activities with ease. If you are an athlete or dancer, you can perform your tasks better. If you work in the office and have back problems, the therapy can reduce back pain and you find yourself feeling much better.
• It Decreases Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
If you love working out and going hard in the gym, then you probably have experienced this feeling. Delayed onset muscle soreness is when your muscles become sore and extremely painful after a hard day at the gym.
You find that you can’t move and perform any tasks without feeling muscle pain. The Graston technique promotes the healing of the body by itself over time. When you perform the technique on your sore muscles, they will have a reduction in pain and gain strength.
Additionally, the technique can improve the range of muscle motion as well as decrease the delayed onset muscle soreness. If you are a sports person, then this technique could be the preferred treatment for you.
Bottom Line
Finding a great chiropractor can be a challenge and very stressful. You can try the Graston technique, which involves muscle scraping to ensure that you don’t suffer from acute and chronic pain. Click here and learn more about Graston therapy.