Forums >Health and Nutrition>ASTYM therapy?
Has anyone tried ASTYM therapy for bad IT band problems? I have had a few treatments, and I am wondering if this has worked for anyone.
A Saucy Wench
LOVE it. Awesome Hurts, but you get to run while you do it and it works
I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets
"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7
I also think it is a great therapy. My PT used it on my upper hamstring connection issues and I think it helped more than anything else.
Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth
For those of you who have had this therapy done does it work better than ART?
I havent had ART
BTW I have had ASTYM from 2 different therapists. My second therapist was much more gentle with it than my first therapist. I dont know if that is why it didnt work as well or if it was just the nature of that particular injury. My first therapist dug up scar tissue from 20 years prior and fixed stuff I didnt even know was broken.
Thanks Ennay.
I went to the ASTYM website and there was a good video showing the process. It looks like a crystal they run up and down the area or something. LOL! A magic crystal I'd say based on your response to the therapy.
I've done ART on and off for 1.5 years and I'm still having ITB issues. My next step was giving the Graston Technique a whirl but after this thread, and checking out the ASTYM site, I may try that.
I have been dealing with a bad case of ITBS for the past 4 months, I hurt it during the last half marathon I ran in September. I have not been able to run more than 1/2 mile before it stops me in my tracks. I have been to 2 orthos, had a cortisone injection, and a massage therapist, with no luck at all. Then I found a PT does ASTYM therapy. I have had 3 treatments so far, and it really does seem to be working. I was able to run more than 2 miles with no pain at all yesterday, so that is definitely heading in the right direction. He says it sould be 100% better after 2 or 3 more treatments. I hope he is right!! The only bad thing is that it HURTS like you would not believe. My leg is black and blue from the outside of my knee, to my hip. But it is all worth it, if it fixes it!
^^ I know. You have to be careful if you wear shorts because someone might think you have been beaten!
+1
RunsForCake - they SCRAPE that magic crystal up and down your legs. The purpose of the technique is to break up scar tissue and get the muscle fibers to lie in the direction they are supposed to. You will bruise anywhere there is a knot of scarring.
Has anyone had this done on their IT band?
tomatolover
other than it being a crystal instead of metal, how is this different from graston?
There are fundamental and very important differences between ASTYM treatment and tooled cross-friction massage techniques (Graston, etc.) The tooled friction massages work to mechanically break apart tissue with the hope that the body will heal in a better way. The treatments often vary widely, so it is hard to predict exactly how you will be treated, and what kind of results you can expect. These methods (Graston, etc.) usually break apart both healthy and unhealthy tissue, so you should make sure you go to a very skilled practitioner. Various forms of friction massage have been around for years with varying degrees of success, but now that hard tools are being added, much more force may be imparted upon the tissue, so it’s important to truly trust the person who may apply it to your body.
On the other hand, ASTYM treatment, which has been scientifically developed and studied, only targets unhealthy tissue and inappropriate scar/fibrosis, and does not damage healthy tissue. ASTYM has specific protocols and consistent results, and works on a cellular level to stimulate a regenerative response. Not only does ASTYM guide the body to resorb scar tissue and inappropriate fibrosis, but it also regenerates tendons, muscles and other soft tissues that may have sustained damage.
ASTYM’s ability to remove unwanted scar tissue inside the body (that occurs due to injury, joint disease, improper movement patterns, etc.) can resolve many conditions that cause pain and limit movement. In addition to eliminating the scar tissue which may be causing pain and limiting function, ASTYM treatment can also regenerate soft tissues that may have been damaged through trauma, surgery, and common degenerative musculoskeletal conditions that many generally healthy people develop as part of aging or overuse (such as the heel pain of plantar fasciitis, chronic tendonitis, shin splints, achilles tendinitis, patellar tendinitis, etc.).
Over time, low level inflammation or irritation can lead to an accumulation of scar tissue adhesions in an area which can cause pain and limit function. ASTYM can help with these gradual onset scar tissue problems as well. ASTYM treatment results have been independently collected from multiple treatment sites across the country, so you can see how well a particular condition resolves with ASTYM. For instance, IT Band syndrome/TFL improves in 92.6% of patients. Here is a link to an article on ASTYM treatment for IT Band: http://blog.astym.com/blog/guests/it-band-syndrome-the-solution-to-a-difficult-problem
Click here if you would like to see a listing of how well other conditions resolve with ASTYM.