Graston & Gua Sha Techniques

Graston Technique

The Graston Technique utilizes a set of stainless steel instruments that are drawn over your skin to reduce underlying scar tissue and fascial restrictions. Since many long-standing spinal problems produce inflammation, muscle changes and fibrotic scar tissue, this approach is helpful in creating significant, long-term changes to soft tissues throughout your body.

Our Instruments

Our stainless steel instruments allow us to access the deeper, more significant soft tissue problems.

The hand instruments we use allow a deeper, more sensitive palpation and treatment of restricted tissues. Since the metal instruments do not compress like the fat pads of the fingers, deeper restrictions can be accessed and resolved. Plus, their concave/convex shapes mold to the various contours of your body for greater comfort and effectiveness.

Patient Satisfaction

Originally developed for the treatment of athletic injuries, patients report excellent results with both acute and chronic soft tissue injuries:

• Decreased recovery time
• Reduces need for medications
• Resolves long-standing conditions

As we pull our instruments across adhesions and scar tissue, patients report a temporary tightening, then a pleasant sense of release. Repeated visits help resolve these areas of scar tissue and improved muscle tone can be restored.

Gua Sha Technique

Gua Sha Technique

Gua Sha is a traditional Chinese medical treatment used by acupuncturist to allow meridian energy to flow freely. Graston technique is based upon Gua Sha but used different tools. The treatment involves breaking up trigger points/knots, muscle spasms, scar tissue and adhesions that develop in our muscles. They develop from new injuries, old injuries and poor posture. This blocks energy flow and blood circulation causing stagnation in the meridians, ill health and pain. Dr. Karas learned Gua Sha while obtaining his fellowship in acupuncture and Graston from one of their seminars.

The treatment involves a scraping motion over the skin with a smooth-edged tool. Gua means to scrape and Sha means sand or the rough irregular texture of the muscles, fascia and tendons.

Gua Sha tools are made of jade, buffalo horn or smooth stone while Graston tools are stainless steel. Dr. Karas has used Gua Sha and Graston to successfully treat TMJ, carpal tunnel, rotator cuff, IT band and many other soft tissue injuries. He has found that, by breaking up these trigger points/knots, muscle spasms, scar tissue and adhesions, patients respond faster and the results last longer.