What Is The Graston Technique For Injury Management?

At the Centers For Advanced Orthopaedics, we employ a number of different providers with unique specialities to ensure that patients have access to the right type of care for their individual needs. For example, Matthew Bernier, the Director of Physical Therapy at our Falls Church location, has advanced training in what’s known as the Graston technique. This offshoot of manual therapy can help to provide another level of soft tissue mobilization and break up potentially problematic scar tissue.

The Graston technique is similar to manual therapy, in which a therapist uses their hands to apply pressure to certain areas of the body to break up scar tissue, improve blood flow or improve mobility in a specific area. However, the technique is a bit different because the physical therapists use stainless steel instruments to help release scar tissue and apply different types of pressure to certain areas of your body.

Using these specialized tools can help to reduce pain and improve physical function in a few different ways:

• The technique can break down scar tissue and other fascia restrictions stemming from common injuries like muscle strains of pulled ligaments.
• Reducing and eliminating potential sources of tissue restriction by stretching and mobilizing different connective tissues, like muscles, ligaments and tendons.
• Increasing blood flow and reducing inflammation in specific areas, allowing for a better healing environment.

How The Graston Technique Works

There are six standard tools that are used in the Graston technique. These tools are made of stainless steel and are either concave or convex in shape with rounded edges. The physical therapist carefully maneuvers one of the instruments over different areas to look for points of restriction. Not only can these tools help to find areas of tissue restriction, but they can also break up this scar tissue when different pressure techniques are applied to the area.

When administering the Graston technique, the physical therapist applies cross-friction to the targeted area, meaning that they are applying pressure against the grain of the scar tissue. This pressure actually reintroduces a small amount of trauma to the affected area, which can lead to some minor swelling and inflammation, but this also improves blood flow to the area, jump-starting the healing process.

By kickstarting the healing process and breaking up scar tissue before it causes more problems, the Graston technique can:

• Lead to faster recovery times
• Reduce reliance on over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication
• Treat small issues before they become chronic ailments
• Compliment other treatment techniques like physical therapy

Not all patients would benefit from this type of tissue release, but we’re proud to have specialists on our staff who can administer the technique when it would prove beneficial. For more information about the Graston technique for tissue mobilization, or to talk to someone from our team about a different physical issue that you’re dealing with, reach out to The Centers For Advanced Orthopaedics today at (703) 584-2040.