Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/87297
RESTORING SMOOTH MOVEMENT Modality Training Hours Active Release Technique www.activerelease.com 69 hours. Full Body Certification includes upper, lower, and spine (24 upper, 24 lower, 21 spine). 12 recertification, 8 nerve entrapment, 4.5 masters course Sound Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (SASTM) www.sastm.com 8 hours in person (or 4 hours online for certified athletic trainers) Graston Technique www.grastontechnique.com 12-hour Graston Technique Basic Training, 14-hour advanced follow-up course (upper and lower extremities/spine) ASTYM www.astym.com Two-day (16 hour) training for OTs, three-day (25 hour) training for PTs, PTAs, COTAs, and athletic trainers Gua Sha www.guasha.com Varies, often embedded into acupuncture school curriculum or available to massage therapists in workshops Type of Instrument Who is Eligible? hands athletic trainers, chiropractors, doctors, massage therapists, medical physicians, physical therapists ceramic polymer athletic trainers, chiropractors, doctors, massage therapists, medical students, occupational therapists (OT) and assistants, physical therapists (PT) and assistants stainless steel athletic trainers, chiropractic physicians, medical physicians, occupational therapists, osteopaths, physical therapists, podiatrists, licensed OT and PT assistants working under the auspices of previously mentioned professionals polyresin athletic trainers, physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, OTs and assistants spoons or bone acupuncturists, massage therapists "Instrument-based, soft-tissue techniques are superior for true degenerative tendon disease, such as tendinosis, compared to manual techniques using the practitioner's hands," Buchberger says. All instrument-based, soft-tissue techniques use an instrument applied in multiple directions to produce an ecchymosis, or bruising, response. The therapist and client both feel a vibration when the tool hits an area needing treatment. The purpose of these modalities is to break cross-fiber links, splay fibers, and, ideally, increase fascial mobility, often by reinitiating the inflammatory process. This stimulates a healing response, with blood, nutrients, and fibroblasts rushing to the affected area. Nathan Tiplady, DC, a chiropractor who treats many professional baseball players in Boston, Massachusetts, sees a lot of clients who suffer from upper-extremity shoulder and forearm problems. He uses ART, along with other modalities such as Graston Technique, on athletes who come in with general shoulder pain of nontraumatic origin that has accumulated over time. Buchberger, who has used both Graston Technique and SASTM, says both techniques are equally effective, yielding similar results when performed by experienced providers. Graston Technique, which is available to chiropractors and other health-care providers, excluding MTs, uses stainless steel instruments, which are more expensive and harder on the provider's hand, but more comfortable for the client. Instruments used with SASTM, which is open to massage therapists and other health-care providers, are slightly less comfortable for the client, but are also less expensive and not as hard on the provider's hand. "SASTM's tools fit the contour of the surface area of the adhesion, fibrosis, or scar tissue," Rampe says, therefore allowing practitioners to switch tool sizes as needed. 98 massage & bodywork november/december 2012