WHAT IS IASTM?
IASTM IS AN INSTRUEMENT WHICH IS USED BY THE PHYSIOTHERAPISTS OR CHIROPRACTOR TO RELEASE MUSCLE.
IASTM can involve broad or targeted treatments. The former would be used for large muscle groups, such as an injured back, the latter for an injury to a particular area. By using different tools, angles and pressures, your therapist can focus on a specific layer of soft tissue during treatment.
Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) is a technique we often use in physical therapy. IASTM works like a standard massage, but specialized instruments are used in place of a physical therapist’s hands. These instruments allow more direct treatment of the soft tissues involved with movement. The tissues include:
• Muscles
• Fascia, connective tissue that surrounds and separates muscles
• Ligaments, tissue that connects bones to other bones
• Tendons, tissue that connects muscles to bones
IASTM can involve broad or targeted treatments. The former would be used for large muscle groups, such as an injured back, the latter for an injury to a particular area. By using different tools, angles and pressures, your therapist can focus on a specific layer of soft tissue during treatment.
The Benefits of IASTM- Targeted IASTM treatments can have a number of benefits, such as:
- Faster pain relief
- Improved mobility
- Quicker rehabilitation and recovery
IASTM focuses on specific areas to relieve stiffness and improve range of motion. This allows physiotherapist to help you perform exercises. Your physiotherapist recommends to strengthen the injured area, which promotes healing and can help restore your normal function.
Are you a good candidate for IASTM?
Anyone with soft-tissue pain, injuries or conditions can benefit from IASTM. These often include athletes, warehouse workers or others who perform a repeated motion many times per day can contact physiotherapist for IASTM. Some of the many conditions we can treat with IASTM include:
- Excessive scar tissue
- Forms of tendinitis or tendinopathy, including Achilles tendinitis, golfer’s and tennis elbow
- Muscle and ligament strains
- Running injuries, such as plantar fasciitis and iliotibial band syndrome (IT band)
However, some patients are not good candidates for IASTM. Contact your physiotherapist for more information on it. If you have a degenerative joint condition, such as arthritis, your physiotherapist may recommend IASTM, which may help relieve pain in the tissues surrounding the joint but not in the joint itself. In addition, anyone with the following conditions should not receive IASTM therapy:
- An active form of cancer
- Bone fracture
- Diabetic neuropathy, a type of nerve damage that can occur with diabetes
- Peripheral artery disease (PAD), a circulatory condition that reduces blood flow to the arms or legs
Conditions For Which IASTM is Usually Used:
- Medial Epicondylitis
- Lateral Epicondylitis
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Neck Pain
- Plantar Fascitis
- Rotator Cuff Tendinitis
- Patellar Tendinitis
- Tibialis Posterior Tendinitis
- Heel Pain /Achilles Tendinitis
- DeQuervain’s Syndrome
- Post-Surgical and Traumatic Scars
- Myofascial Pain and Restrictions
- Musculoskeletal Imbalances
- Chronic Joint Swelling Associated with Sprains/Strains
- Ligament Sprains
- Muscle Strains
- Non-Acute Bursitis
- RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy)
- Back Pain
- Trigger Finger
- Hip Pain (Replacements)
- IT Band Syndrome
- Shin Splints
- Chronic Ankle Sprains
- Acute Ankle Sprains (Advanced Technique)
- Scars (Surgical, Traumatic)
Contraindications:
- Open wound (unhealed suture site)
- Unhealed fracture
- Thrombophlebitis
- Uncontrolled hypertension
- Patient intolerance/hypersensitivity
- Hematoma
- Osteomyelitis
- Myositis ossificans
- Hemophilia
Precautions:
- Anti-coagulant medications
- Cancer
- Varicose veins
- Burn scars
- Acute inflammatory conditions
- Kidney dysfunction
- Inflammatory condition secondary to infection
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Pregnancy
Contact at KURE CLINIC today to arrange a session with a senior physiotherapist to discuss a targeted treatment plan.