Astym Therapy is an evidence-based treatment designed to help the body heal. Astym is an effective way of dealing with stubborn pain, tightness, scar tissue, or just an injury that hasn’t fully recovered. It stimulates tissue regeneration while reducing pain. Astym treatment is used by Physical Therapists, especially for injuries resulting in scar tissue, inflammation, and soft-tissue limitations. Astym treatment naturally stimulates the body’s ability to heal by restoring healthy and functional tissue.
What Is Astym Therapy?
You may wonder what exactly Astym is. It is a hands-on technique backed by research that uses specialized tools to stimulate the healing of soft tissue injuries. It breaks down scar tissue and can help restore movement. This is different from other scraping techniques as Astym specifically focuses on unhealthy scar tissue and dysfunctional soft tissue while promoting the body to make healthy and flexible tissue.
How it Works
A trained provider uses specified patterns with the Astym tools to scrape over the skin. The tools will help find areas where the soft tissue has irregularities such as scar tissue, adhesions, or inflammation as a result of injury, overuse, or postoperative care. As this is done, it causes the body to react and activates the body’s natural healing process. The Astym tools along with the motion of scraping will stimulate the area to break down unhealthy tissue and encourage new collagen to form. Although Astym treatment is a great hands-on technique, it needs to work in conjunction with proper stretching and strengthening programs that will encourage the healthy tissue to work properly.
Conditions Treated
There are a variety of conditions that Astym would be effective.
- Tendonitis and tendinopathy in areas such as the achilles, knee, rotator cuff, etc.
- Plantar fasciitis
- Carpal tunnel
- Tennis elbow
- Hamstring strains and shin splints
- IT band syndrome
- Chronic pain from overuse as well as scar tissue build up from surgery
What to Expect During Treatment
Astym typically is not aggressive scaping. The Physical Therapists will use 3 different shaped and sized tools to glide over the skin. Each tool has a different purpose. Depending on the nature of the injury, a provider may use all 3 or just 1 tool. During the treatment, the patient may feel:
- Pressure that is firm but comfortable in a gliding form.
- Some tenderness
- Often there is a feeling of warmth on the skin
Benefits of Astym Therapy
There are many benefits to Astym Therapy including:
- Faster Recovery
- Pain Reduction
- Improved Flexibility
- Regenerates Healthy Tissue
- Reduces pain and inflammation
- Breaks down scar tissue
- Creates more efficient healing
- Improved Range of motion and movement
- Movement benefits healing process
- Safe
Why Choose Bushnell PT
We have multiple providers who are certified and trained in Astym treatment. Each patient that comes into Bushnell Physical Therapy receives a personalized plan of care based on their own individual needs and injury. With this plan of care and our focus on Reset, Retrain, Restore, Bushnell Physical Therapy providers combine their skilled training in treatments such as Astym Therapy with appropriate stretching and strengthening to get their patients back to what they love most.
Conclusion
Astym Treatment is hands-on care that can really make a difference in a patient’s recovery. It is used with most patients at Bushnell Physical Therapy due to its effectiveness for any and all soft tissue injuries and post operative care. Learn more by calling our office and getting a consultation to see if Astym is right for you.
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