Anyone use Gua Sha?

[Akiramay]

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So my clinical instructor has been using gua sha on a few of our current patients who have been complaining of muscle pain/spasm, and it has resulted in some relief so far. I was just wondering if anyone has used it in their practice or heard of it? It is a similar concept to Graston or ASTYM, but I'm not sure what makes one 'tool' more effective than another?

 

[atstudent]

I have looked at Gua Sha, but I don't have any first-hand experience with it. I am trained in the Graston Technique and use it extensively.

I think that Gua Sha is intended to be a little more aggressive and creates more initial destruction as it attempts to heal than other forms of IASTM. All of it is intended to break up adhesions and scar tissue which creates some inflammatory response. I'm sure there are some other differences, but it seems the biggest difference in many of the major IASTM modalities is the instrument used.

I'm not sure there is a particular technique that is "more effective" than another. The clinician is going to have success with what they are comfortable with...

 

[truthseeker]

So my clinical instructor has been using gua sha on a few of our current patients who have been complaining of muscle pain/spasm, and it has resulted in some relief so far. I was just wondering if anyone has used it in their practice or heard of it? It is a similar concept to Graston or ASTYM, but I'm not sure what makes one 'tool' more effective than another?

No offense, but where in the heck are you people doing your clinical affiliations? gua sha, dr. busbys magneto ball or whatever? CIs that surprisingly fail tell you that you are going to fail your clinicals on the last day?

I think your schools need to find better clinical sites.

 

[Fiveoboy11]

No offense, but where in the heck are you people doing your clinical affiliations? gua sha, dr. busbys magneto ball or whatever? CIs that surprisingly fail tell you that you are going to fail your clinicals on the last day?

I think your schools need to find better clinical sites.

I agree, it looks like folk medicine crapola to me.

 

[Azimuthal]

Is that APTA approved?

 

[jesspt]

No offense, but where in the heck are you people doing your clinical affiliations? gua sha, dr. busbys magneto ball or whatever? CIs that surprisingly fail tell you that you are going to fail your clinicals on the last day?

I think your schools need to find better clinical sites.

My question would be to the original poster - Was your CI using it in the traditional sense, or in a way to deliver instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization. If it is the former, run from the clinical site. If it is the later, use this as a spring board to discuss the underlying theory behind IASTM (Graston, ASTYM, etc.). There is decent theory behind IASTM, and some data that suggests increased proliferation of fibroblasts, and improved fiber orientation, after applciation of IASTM to rat tendons. I am not aware of any good outcome studies.

So, Akira, if your CI can discuss these things intelligently, you'll have a nice learning opportunity re:IASTM. If they can't, and you hear things like "I don't know - It just works", you'll have learned something as well, but it won't be about IASTM.

Truthseeker,

It sounds like you don'tt use IASTM. What is your treatment of choice for a typical tendonosis?

 

[truthseeker]

My question would be to the original poster - Was your CI using it in the traditional sense, or in a way to deliver instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization. If it is the former, run from the clinical site. If it is the later, use this as a spring board to discuss the underlying theory behind IASTM (Graston, ASTYM, etc.). There is decent theory behind IASTM, and some data that suggests increased proliferation of fibroblasts, and improved fiber orientation, after applciation of IASTM to rat tendons. I am not aware of any good outcome studies.

So, Akira, if your CI can discuss these things intelligently, you'll have a nice learning opportunity re:IASTM. If they can't, and you hear things like "I don't know - It just works", you'll have learned something as well, but it won't be about IASTM.

Truthseeker,

It sounds like you don'tt use IASTM. What is your treatment of choice for a typical tendonosis?

First, I try to identify mechanical overloads (bad shoes, not moving in joints that should move and/or moving more than they should in places that aren't supposed to move.

I try to work on motor control so that the loads placed on the tendons in question are within their load tolerance. (e.g. a foot that pronates too far places a load on the tibialis posterior that it can't handle and it, along with the associated sensory nerves become irritated, causing pain. If you reduce the degree of the pronation, you allow the tendon to remodel so that it can better handle the load.) I work on motor control, LE tendinoses anyway, by doing functional multiplanar exercises in weightbearing. That involves both eccentric and concentric contractions, emphasizing the eccentric but always in functional patterns.