Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilisation or Simply IASTM is a new range of tool which enables clinicians to efficiently locate and treat individuals diagnosed with soft tissue dysfunction.
At Ashwood Chiropractic our IASTM tools are known as RockBlades.
If you’re a regular patient at Ashwood, you’ve probably seen these RockBlades in clinic, and likely had them used as part of your treatment. But for anyone else who’s curious, or if you want to know more about the Rock Blades, and why the Ashwood Chiropractors use them, we’ve put together some extra information for you. RockBlades are thought to have a number of uses, as recent research shows they are affecting the body to greater degree than initially planned. This is a GOOD thing! Whilst RockBlades are very effective at Deep Tissue Massage and “Stripping out” Muscles and Trigger Points, they are now shown to affect your nervous system as well.
How do RockBlades affect my muscles and fascia?
The instruments break down scar tissue within the connective tissues as well as introducing a highly specific inflammatory response in the desired area. This inflammatory response is beneficial as it encourages the reabsoprtion of unnecessary amounts of scar tissue within the mucles and fascia. This scar tissue may have developed through injury, surgery or lack of mobility. Ultimately the tools improve mobility, reduce scarring and decrease pain. How do RockBlades affect my Nervous System? RockBlades produce a stimuli over the area of the body they are used to treat. As this stimuli is greater than that applied by hand (as you will have experienced if you have had treatment with them) they cause a response within the body called Sensory Motor Training. This means that the stimulus from the RockBlades causes the peripheral nervous system (the smaller nerves in your skin, muscles and connective tissue), around the area of the body that has been treated, to be upregulated. Upregulated Nervous System?
The closer to “optimal” that your nervous system is firing, the better the motor outcome. Essentially – you get out what you put in. A well functioning nervous system, means your motor system (your muscle, joints and all the connective tissue in between) will also function better, and therefore, you are at a lesser risk for injury. RockBlades are part and parcel of treating the Feedback Loop that can cause or exaggerate more long term pain. When the RockBlade treats the peripheral nerves, the stimuli tells the brain about the area being treated (temperature, hydration, muscle tone etc). With this information, the brain is able to best prepare the area for any movement or activity, and therefore, the body is less likely to suffer injury. Conditions RockBlades have been shown to help:
Neck Pain
Back Pain
Myofascial Pain and Restrictions
Ligament Sprains
Muscle Strains
Tennis Elbow, Golfers Elbow
Plantar Fasciitis
Chronic Joint Swelling
Rotator Cuff Injury
If you are interested to find out if we can help you with your condition with our RockBlades or through general chiropractic care then please get in touch!
Thank you for reading!