Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue
Stainless steel instruments used along the muscle and fascia to find and work the restricted areas, commonly known by the Graston protocol.
The instrument amplifies what the clinician's hands feel, which is the actual point: restricted tissue has a texture, and the tool makes it easier to find and stay on.
Protocol is always followed by loading. Working tissue without then asking it to do a job is half a protocol.
What it changes
- ✦Finds restrictions the hands alone can miss
- ✦Effective on scar tissue and chronic tendon complaints
- ✦Short sessions that pair with loading work
Safety & what to expect
Redness afterwards is expected and fades within hours. Light bruising happens occasionally. We adjust pressure for anyone on a blood thinner.
More in Soft Tissue & Myofascial
Active Release Technique
Tension held on a named muscle while you move the joint through range, aimed at the adhesions limiting glide.
Dry Needling
A thin monofilament needle placed into a taut band of muscle to release a trigger point, used for the knots that keep reforming after hands-on work.
Cupping
Suction cups applied over a muscle group, sometimes moved through range, to lift and decompress tissue that has become dense and sticky.