I attended Logan
college of chiropractic in St. Louis, MO, and not only do they do a great job
of educating their students about practicing chiropractic, they really push
natural techniques that help with tissue healing, and over all healing. They offer many homeopathic techniques that
will help with patient care. I took
interest in the Graston technique after I was treated in the student clinic and
had great success in my own personal physical issues. I took the classes and have been using the
Graston technique ever since.
Since 2008, I have added similar techniques that aid in
tissue healing called Gua-sha and Cupping.
These two techniques along with Graston and Chiropratic have increased
my over healing rate with patients and decreases the time needed to heal. The only thing about these techniques is they
do leave noticeable bruises during the first few treatments. Therefore I just wanted to do a short
description of the three so people understand why it looks the way it does and
also the differences between the three.
First off the Graston technique uses stainless-steel tools
that were developed in the United States.
There are six official Graston tools that are all different shape and
sizes to help specific areas. These
tools are designed to enhance the clinician's ability to detect adhesions, scar
tissue or restrictions in the affected areas.
A combing technique is performed over the area to break up the collagen,
link fibers and increase the amount of blood flow to the area to help with
healing. The longer the area has been injured
the more red dots come up. These dots
are called petechiae, which will cause bruising. There is a 24-48 hour soreness with the
treatment. The
bruising heals, the pain gets better and range of motion increases. It takes a few treatments to notice a change
in the tissue. There will be a
noticeable difference in the amount of petechiae that appear as the tissues
heals. This is one of the reason I
really like this technique because not only does the patient get results fast,
I can see that the tissue has its normal circulation again. 
Gua-sha and Graston have very similar combing techniques but do have different philosophies on the practice. Gua-sha is an Eastern Asian medicine technique that has been around much longer then Graston, and is used for more than just soft tissue problems. Gua-sha is defined as an instrument-assisted unidirectional press-stoking of lubricated area to help create transitory therapeutic petechiae called "sha' representing extravasation of blood in the subcutis. That definition might sound a little strange but simplified, the combing technique is done to bring up petecahiae to get rid of adhesion and increase circulation. Very similar to the Graston Technique. In Eastern Asian medicine, raising sha removes blood stagnation considered pathogenic. Modern research shows the petechiae produce an anti-inflammatory and immune-receptive effect that can last for days following a treatment. The Treatments can relieve pain, stiffness, fever, chill, cough, wheeze, nausea, vomiting etc. The tools are usually smaller than the Graston tools, and are made from jade rock, whale bone or a hard plastic. Some practitioners use lids off of baby jars. There is really no right or wrong Gua-sha tool, as long as it has an edge that brings up the petechiae without harming the patient
Cupping therapy, is the method of using glass or plastic
cups to create localized pressure by a vacuum.
Again that sounds a little edgy but this technique has been used in Eastern
Asia since ancient times, with a recorded 3500 years of use. The philosophy is again a little different
in definition but overall it does produce similar results as Graston and
Gua-sha. Cupping follows the traditional
acupuncture meridians. These meridians
are pathways in the body which the energy of life flows. Cupping therapy is mainly performed on
certain meridians to open up the flow and help with healing. Another healing aspect of cupping is through
the release of toxins in your body by bringing up circulation in the area of
injury or pain. Just like the Gua-sha
and Graston, cupping leaves bruising after treatments. But as the area heals the bruising is less noticeable,
and the patient feels better. I have
used both the glass with fire, and the plastic cupping. I prefer the plastic cups that come with a
vacuum tool. They are very easy and fast
to use. The
majority of the time I will treat my patient with Graston or Gua-sha first and
will then place the cups over the area of the most petechiae. This really brings a lot of circualation to
the surface and even though the patient is bruised and sore for a few days it,
the results are fast and effective.
