ASTYM vs Graston vs ART

Tyrone,

Graston and ASTYM are essentially the same form of treatment with slightly different tools that fall under the category of "Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization." It's a helpful style of treatment, but is only as good as the practitioner. The tendency as I've seen with IASTM is that many practitioners are attacted to the bravado of the pettechiae (breaking of capillaries, bruising, etc) and do not necessarily appreciate the physiology of the tissue and that of the stress response. It tends to be more "gross" in nature.

Physiologically, IASTM can mobilize fibroblasts (lay down new connective tissue), reinstate inflammatory processes (this is good in the short run), and, with appropriate other treatment, help the healing process. There are a handful of case studies where multiple interventions including IASTM have resulted in good outcomes for tendinopathies. From studying with some of the "major" IASTM schools of thought, they seem to be quite "mechanical" in nature and fail to appreciate pain science of the 21st century. It doesn't mean it doesn't work, it just means that it may not work entirely as its explained.

ART--a more complicated, and somewhat different version of pin and stretch, is, too, yet another tool that depends heavily on the practitioner's grasp of palpation and their understanding of the physiology of manual therapy. Physiologically it offers important benefits that overlap those of IASTM to a degree. It is more specific. Where I dislike their approach is in their recognition (or lackthereof) of pain science and pain generating sites. It's a great tool.

All listed are just commercial tools to get a job done. What I'd suggest is to "shop around" for good therapists. Ask them how long they've been working with particular techniques, have they treated athletes, have they treated your injury before, were they successful, yada yada. Be on the lookout for somebody who doesn't tell you they are ART/Graston/ASTYM, but instead practice multiple techniques--soft tissue, joint mobilization, exercise, etc. See that they have a passion for learning more within their trade.

Regards,

Carson Boddicker

If this is an Achilles Tendon problem, I can tell you based on my experience (3 Achilles tendon operations) that you can come back from an Achilles tendon operation and still run at a very high level.

Mr. Boddicker is right....try to choose a doctor or therapist who is not set-in-his-ways and is always trying to learn more. I have a friend here in Bangkok, 10 years younger than me, who is my Chiropractor. He's a great doctor because he tries to continually expand his body of knowledge.

Probably the best running therapist in the USA, IMHO, is Mr. Mark Plaatjes in Boulder Colorado. Great runner (1993 World Champion), great guy in general, and an incredible therapist.

If someone is offering you a choice, they may not know what they are doing. A good chiro will know which is appropriate for your achilles issue and may integrate more than one therapy. It really shouldn't be your decision. A good chiro will know what to do.

That being said, I have had very good success with Graston. I was able to train through it and was able to salvage a half decent marathon. Without the therapy, I would not have even made it to the starting line. Find a good chiro and get started asap.

IASTM (also known as tooled friction massage) can be helpful in certain cases, however, it is very different that ASTYM treatment. IASTM (Graston, Sastm, etc.) mechanically breaks down tissue and can be aggressive in its application.

On the other hand, ASTYM treatment works on a cellular level to stimulate regeneration of soft tissues. If you would like to read more about the differences, here is a link to an entry discussing the difference between IASTM and ASTYM in more detail:

http://blog.astym.com/blog/astym-3/0/0/astym-vs-iastm-graston-sastm-etc-how-they-are-different

Hi 666EnergyDrink, I am also living here in Bangkok and I would really like to try ASTYM to treat my tennis elbow, but I don't know who provides the service. Does your friend do ASTYM? Or would you be able to recommend anyone who does? Thanks

If you cant find any then buy a cheap tool from ebay or amazon. Even those gua sha tools do the work, however, prefer stainless steel tools.

For example, check these tools:

AdhesionTool

www.physioneers.com

STMfish

http://stmfish.com/

You can call yourself sportsmd if you want but when you say AYSTM and Graston are different it shows you do not know what you are talking about. The difference is propagated by AYSTM seminars in hopes of luring idiots that don't realize your physiological responses are not dependent on the materials the tools are made from but rather how they are applied.

I was impressed with this thread and those willing to share their knowledge., why the insult?