Many athletes and active persons will experience an injury at some point in their lives. Others may also be put in a similar situation if their body has endured a recent trauma such as a car accident.
These types of incidents can be difficult to recover from, especially when fascial restrictions, adhesions, and scar tissue begin to develop. One type of treatment that is currently being explored in the rehabilitation of such cases is instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM).
IASTM is a kind of manual physical therapy that uses tools to aid REHAB AT WORK in the location and treatment of your injury. These tools are typically made of stainless steel, and are each specially shaped to treat a particular area of the body.
Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization is quite helpful in helping individuals to recover from injury, but it can also be used to help treat other conditions such as:
Prior to beginning instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization treatments, your physical therapist will likely conduct a few tests to get a clear depiction of your current abilities as well as potential areas for improvement.
Once the soft tissue dysfunction has been identified, the therapist will run the instrument over the affected area. Applying adequate amounts of pressure to the tissues has been shown to help:
Research surrounding IASTM is still relatively new. However, it is very encouraging. Multiple studies have shown marked improvements in patients who implemented instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization for a number of weeks after their injury or repair surgery.
If you would like to learn more about instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM), call REHAB AT WORK, serving Maryland, Virginia and the D.C. Area at (888) 827-6361 today.
