ASTYM treatment is a physical therapy treatment that regenerates healthy soft tissues (muscles, tendons, etc.), and eliminates or reduces unwanted scar tissue that may be causing pain or movement restrictions.

ASTYM treatment is highly effective for restoring movement and reducing pain from soft tissue injury/dysfunction, and ASTYM even works when other approaches routinely fail.  One of the main reasons for this is that ASTYM was designed to target the underlying cause of many soft tissue problems, rather than just trying to relieve symptoms.  Here are some of the diagnoses where patients have demonstrated excellent clinical results when treated with ASTYM:

• Lateral epicondylosis, chronic lateral epicondylitis
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• DeQuervain's tenosynovitis
• Wrist sprain
• Plantar fasciopathy/heel pain/chronic plantar fasciitis
• Achilles tendinosis and chronic achilles tendinitis
• Shin splints
• Patellar tendinosis, chronic patellar tendinitis/tendonitis (jumper's knee)
• IT band syndrome
• Chronic hamstring strain
• Joint contractures
• Overuse injuries
• Pain or loss of motion & function following surgery, trauma or overuse injury

Here is a full listing of diagnoses that have been monitored and the outcomes (treatment results) tracked. 

ASTYM treatment is non-invasive, which means there are no injections or incisions.  Instruments are applied topically (on top of the skin) to locate dysfunctional (unhealthy) tissue, and to transfer mild to moderate pressure to the underlying soft tissue structures.   ASTYM treatment stimulates tissue turnover, scar tissue resorption, and the regeneration of tendons, muscles and other soft tissue structures.

ASTYM treatment  is typically provided twice weekly for four to five weeks (about 9 total treatment sessions) and is done in conjunction with eccentric loading, stretching, and functional exercises. Unlike other treatments, ASTYM encourages patients to active, workers to stay on the job, and athletes to stay in their sport during treatment. The ASTYM process actually makes the tissues of the body stronger, and allows a patient's body to become adapted to greater stress without injury.  Patients are very satisfied  and enthused with the results they see from ASTYM
 
ASTYM is used in settings ranging from therapy clinics to hospitals to industrial rehabilitation to elite/professional athletics. This highly-effective, proven treatment helps countless patients every day. ASTYM is scientifically based and supported by clinical research and extensive outcomes.

Meet Today's Guest Blogger:



Maureen Scanlan, OTR/L, CHT works at St. Croix Orthopaedics in Stillwater Minnesota as the lead hand therapist.  She has 33 years of experience as a therapist, 20 of those specializing in hand therapy.  Her work experience includes Mental Health/Chemical Dependency, Cardiac Rehab, Industrial rehab, Ergonomics, and Hand Therapy.  Maureen has a BA from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN.  She has been a Certified Hand Therapist since 2003.

Twenty years as a hand therapist has convinced me that nearly every patient with an upper extremity injury or surgery will benefit from one or more types of soft tissue treatment  at some point during the course of their therapy.

In the past, depending on the patient’s injury, diagnosis, and symptoms, I have used transverse friction massage, myofascial release, trigger point release, lymphedema massage and scar massage to deal with restrictions, fibrosis, or pain in the soft tissues.  Five years ago, my patient load was about 90% cumulative trauma injuries.  My frustration with my inability to adequately and consistently help these patients, many of them work comp patients, lead me to the ASTYM technique and training.  Eureka!  First of all, the theory behind the technique makes so much sense. Second, treating the whole arm with these patients? Hello!  Third, the square footage treated in a short time is very efficient, just what our current health care industry demands.  Fourth, Occupational Therapists are all about function, and with ASTYM, activity is encouraged during treatment!  And last, but not least, the ASTYM tools are ergonomic.

ASTYM has been a valuable addition to my toolbox.  I still use all the other soft tissue treatment  techniques, frequently more than one technique on the same patient in the same therapy session.  I always use my hands at some point to address soft tissue dysfunction.  My fingertips can tell me more about the injury than any other evaluative tool. 

A couple years ago a co-therapist was treating a woman for tennis elbow who was originally from China.  She and her husband had moved to the US about 10 years previously.  Her husband attended every therapy session with her.  He was very interested in the ASTYM tools and admitted that he had been treating his wife’s arm with a kitchen spoon before she went to the doctor and started therapy.  He said this is a very common practice in China to use tools to work on soft tissue pain.  In ancient times, tools were made from animal bones and horns.  There’s something reassuring about the fact that successful treatment of injuries dates back to the more holistic approach honored by Eastern medicine! 

In fact, in the very beginning of the research that led to the development of ASTYM treatment, the researchers looked into many old-style manual therapies and reviewed their effectiveness and limitations.  This investigation led to new theories that are now the foundation of ASTYM.  There are key differences that separate ASTYM from soft tissue mobilization. To read more about these differences, click here.

Soft tissue mobilization (STM) is a very broad term. It can include all types of manipulating or “mobilizing” soft tissue in an effort to decrease pain and improve movement. Recently, tools have been added to soft tissue mobilization which is called IASTM or Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (Graston, St3 Fuzion, etc. are brands of IASTM). The goal of instrumented STMs, or IASTM, is clear and simple: to mechanically break apart adhesions.

Rather than simply mobilizing tissue (STM), or mechanically breaking apart tissue (instrumented STM or IASTM), ASTYM treatment activates an underlying physiological response leading to the regeneration of soft tissues.

                                                KEY DIFFERENCES

ASTYM treatment routinely resolves chronic plantar fasciitis and heel pain.   Here an experienced physical therapist talks about how a 50 year old runner who had suffered with chronic plantar fasciitis for over eight years finally got relief with ASTYM treatment.  The runner had tried other treatments for his plantar fasciitis without any success.  Finally, he received ASTYM treatment in physical therapy, and ASTYM relieved his heel pain.

ASTYM is a highly effective treatment for plantar fasciitis because it was scientifically developed to actually regenerate soft tissues on a cellular level.   It works fast (total treatments are usually completed in 6 weeks or less) and consistently. Here are some useful links:

•Statistics on how many patients improve or completely resolve their plantar fasciitis/fasciopathy and other conditions with ASTYM
•What ASTYM treatment is like
•How to find an ASTYM provider

• Statistics on how many patients improve or completely resolve their Achilles tendinitis and other conditions with ASTYM
• What ASTYM treatment is like
• How to find an ASTYM provider
• Another patient talking about ASTYM resolving her chronic Achilles tendinitis

Recently, I was invited to speak to the NFL Players Association on ASTYM treatment.  ASTYM has increased the  performance and extended the careers of NFL players, and I was invited to help educate those players who  had yet to experience the benefits of ASTYM.

The NFL players who have experienced ASTYM are very pleased that they perform at higher levels and recover more quickly and fully from injuries that would sideline an athlete who is not receiving ASTYM.  Even though ASTYM has a very good reputation for quality and effectiveness, some players have not tried it.  Why?  Some are unaware of significant improvements ASTYM can make in their game.  Others are a bit skeptical.   NFL players are fortunate in that they have access to all of the “latest and greatest” approaches to injury management and performance enhancement.  However, the downside is that they often try many highly touted treatments that don’t live up to their “hype”.  Naturally, the players then become wary of whether they will see the real results they expect.

After my presentation on ASTYM, there was intense interest from the players who had not yet tried ASTYM treatment.   I was talking to these players about how their performance would improve, how their old nagging injuries could disappear, and how their bodies could be made stronger and better adapted to their sport.  Just then, an NFL player who said he has tried everything, chimed in:  “This isn’t Voodoo man, it’s the real deal!”  I couldn’t have said it better.

Here are some links if you would like to:

•  Learn more about ASTYM treatment
•  See what ASTYM treatment is like
•  Find an ASTYM provider near you

You need to first determine the underlying cause of your tendon pain.  Is your tendonitis (also called tendinitis) caused by inflammation?  If so, then it is the kind of tendinopathy that the healthcare system is best at resolving in short order.  The traditional treatments for inflammatory tendonitis are rest (which can include bracing), ice, and anti-inflammatory medicines, such as ibuprofen.  Once these treatments are applied, inflammatory tendonitis should resolve within 6 weeks.

If tendonitis recurs after these treatments stop, or if the condition does not resolve with these tendonitis treatments, then you may have a degenerative tendon disorder, more correctly referred to as tendinosis.  In order to resolve a degenerative tendinopathy (also called tendinosis or tendonosis), you must stimulate the affected tendon to heal or regenerate.  Since medical science only recently discovered that chronic tendonitis and tendinosis are mainly degenerative in nature, there are only a few treatments that work on stimulating regeneration.  ASTYM treatment was scientifically developed to stimulate regeneration of soft tissues, and has emerged as the treatment of choice in physical and occupational clinics nationwide to consistently resolve chronic tendonitis and other tendinopathies. 

On a different front, physicians recently began injecting platelet rich plasma (PRP) into patients with tendinopathy in an effort to regenerate tendons.  Although many had hoped that this approach would prove to be effective in controlled studies, a recent well designed study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and it showed that PRP injections were no more effective than placebo injections.  To view a copy of this journal article, click here: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/long/303/2/144
 

Plantar fasciitis causes a great deal of heel pain and disability among athletes.  As a sports medicine doctor, I have seen thousands of athletes sidelined by plantar fasciitis.  Most patients will respond to standard treatments for plantar fasciitis, which include:

ASTYM treatment
Autologous Blood Injections/Platelet Rich Plasma Injections (controversial)
Corticosteroid Injection (controversial due to potential side effects)
Electrical Stimulation and Iontophoresis
Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy - ESWT (controversial)
Ice
Laser/Light Therapy
Massage
Needle/Percutaneous Fasciotomy
Night Splints
NSAIDs/Anti-inflammatory drugs
Orthotics
Prolotherapy (controversial)
Rest
Stretching
Surgery (usually only done as a last resort) 
Taping
Ultrasound and Phonophoresis

However, a notable percentage of athletes fail to respond to the usual treatment course, and their condition becomes chronic, or long term.  Some sports physicians and medical researchers suspect that a portion of these recalcitrant patients are not stretching properly, and that may be a factor in their failure to recover from plantar fasciitis.

If you have the physical abilities and health anywhere from an amateur to professional athlete, here are some stretches that may help you recover from plantar fasciitis:

Stretch #1:  Gastroc  Stretch: foot flat on the floor, knee straight, lean forward with your other foot extended in front of you, but keep most of your weight on your back foot until you comfortably feel the stretch in the back of your calf (gastroc muscle and Achilles tendon).  

                                            


Stretch #2:  Soleus Stretch:  foot flat on the floor, KNEE BENT, lean forward on the other foot that is extended in front of you, but keep most of your weight on your back foot until you comfortably feel the stretch in the back of your calf (by bending your knee, you relax the gastroc muscle, which allows you to focus the stretch on the soleus muscle and the Achilles tendon).  


                                            


Stretch #3:  Flexor Hallicus Longus (FHL) Stretch:  Often, plantar fasciitis sufferers will do some version of stretches #1 and #2 above, but fail to do this last stretch.  This stretch can often be the key in helping patients recover from plantar fasciitis.  Use a stair step or a wall to aid you in this stretch.  Stretch your toes up vertically using the wall or stair step and, keeping your heel on the floor, bend you knee slightly and push foward gently, until you comfortably feel the stretch in the bottom of your foot, the inside part of your ankle, and up the back of your calf.
 

Sounds strange to some people, but these injections are being tried to relieve tennis elbow pain, and with some success.  As a sports physician, I have seen many patients with tennis elbow.  I also do medical research, and as a result, I was invited to perform a review of a proposed article for a professional journal on botulinum toxin (Botox® is a trade name for botulinum toxin A) in the treatment of tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis).  This type of review is part of the peer review process that helps to ensure that quality articles get published in medical and scientific journals.  The editors of a peer-reviewed journal contact other researchers or knowledgeable professionals in the field to review  submitted articles and render an opinion on whether an article should be published, and what modifications, if any, should be made to the article before publishing.

The editors of a medical journal asked me to be a peer reviewer on an article about a study where botulinum toxin was used in the treatment of tennis elbow.  Overall, it was a good prospective, pilot study comparing botulinum toxin injections with corticosteroid injections in the treatment of acute and subacute tennis elbow.  After the review process, the study was published.  Here is a link to the abstract for that article (summary of the article):   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20134306   Although I am not going to comment on this particular article, I do think commenting on this treatment approach in tennis elbow is worthwhile.   Significant study of this approach has not been done, however there does appear that at times, there may be some benefit to this type of injection.  There may also be a downside.

The seeming purpose of the injection is to lessen the pain of tennis elbow.  Botulinum toxin has been regularly used to paralyze muscles with great success, so it would follow that botulinum toxin could also paralyze or deaden sensory nerves and thereby relieve the pain of tennis elbow.  However, there has been no suggestion that botulinum toxin promotes any real healing of the degenerative tendinopathy, which is the actual underlying problem of chronic tennis elbow.   The real question is whether a decrease in the symptoms of tennis elbow would be due to the deadening of the sensory nerve, or could it be due to the weakening of the muscles that attach to the abnormal tendon which would decrease the stress on the tendon.

Short term tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) may be due to inflammation.  In short term cases of tennis elbow (less than four weeks), most healthcare professionals prescribe rest, ice and anti-inflammatory medication.  If these treatments do not resolve the tennis elbow and the condition persists, then the more chronic condition is often thought to be caused by degeneration and referred to as lateral epicondylosis, and other treatments or tennis elbow therapy are employed. 

Longer term cases tennis elbow, also known as chronic lateral epicondylitis, lateral epicondylosis and elbow tendinosis/tendinopathy, can be treated by various means, including:

• ASTYM treatment
• Autologous Blood Injections
• Corticosteroid Injections
• Eccentric Exercise
• Electrical Stimulation and Iontophoresis
• Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT)
• Fenestration (percutaneous tenotomy)
• Friction Massage
• Glyceryl Trinitrate (Nitroglycerin) Patches
• Laser/Light Therapy
• NSAIDs/Anti-inflammatory Drugs
• Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections
• Prolotherapy (Sclerotherapy):  
• Relative Rest/Splinting/Immobilization
• Stretching/Ice
• Surgery
• Ultrasound and Phonophoresis

Botulinum toxin injection has not made the list of the most common tendonitis treatments.  Since the purpose of the injection seems to be limited to pain relief with no healing benefit, it may not become a regular treatment for tennis elbow.  The downside of these injections can include muscle weakness and possible decrease in function while the botulinum toxin is active.  And although botulinum toxin may reduce pain, there is not any significant supporting evidence showing that it can improve function for patients with tennis elbow.
 

A controlled clinical trial showing the effectiveness of ASTYM treatment for tennis elbow was presented at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand's annual meeting.  The study showed that ASTYM treatment was an effective tennis elbow therapy by resolving 78.3% of chronic lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) cases.  This figure is consistent with the 80.9% resolution rate for chronic lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) that was contemporaneously reported in the national outcomes database for ASTYM treatment.  This correlation demonstrates the reliability of the ASTYM outcomes database.  To access the ASTYM database and see a full listing of diagnoses and results of ASTYM treatment, including results for tendonitis pain relief, click here:  http://www.astym.com/upload/pdf/ASTYM%20Outcome%20Reports.pdf

ASTYM treatment is a regenerative therapy provided by specially trained (and certified) physical and occupational therapists.  Instruments are applied topically (on top of the skin) to locate dysfunctional (unhealthy) soft tissue, and to transfer pressure and shear forces to the underlying soft tissue structures.  The protocols, the force, and direction of the treatment induce a healing/regenerative response in tendons, muscles, and other soft tissue structures.  ASTYM treatment stimulates tissue turnover, scar tissue resorption, and the regeneration of tendons, muscles and other soft tissue structures. Therapy is typically provided twice weekly for three to four weeks and is done in conjunction with eccentric loading, stretching, and functional exercises. 

Below is a copy of the abstract for the ASTYM controlled clinical trial that was presented at the national American Society for Surgery of the Hand's annual meeting.  The trial shows that ASTYM treatment is a highly effective treatment to relieve tennis elbow pain and restore function.  The full roster containing all the abstracts from that meeting can be found by clicking here:
http://staging.assh.org/AnnualMeeting2010/archive/Documents/MeetingAbstractsFORWEB.pdf

At its core, ASTYM treatment was developed from solid basic science research to stimulate regeneration at a cellular level.  Following that, there were a number of case studies published and then a randomized controlled clinical trial on patellar tendinopathy.  A large randomized controlled clinical trial on lateral epicondylosis was awarded a platform presentation at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand’s national meeting, and is now being submitted for publication (for more information on this study, click here: http://blog.astym.com/blog/astym/0/0/effective-treatment-for-tennis-elbow-presented-at-hand-surgeons-meeting).  Several other studies have also been completed and are being prepared for publication or submitted for publication. To see a full listing of research on ASTYM treatment, please visit the research page by clicking here: http://astym.com/professionals/research.asp  

One of the main reasons for the effectiveness of ASTYM treatment is its sound evidence base.  ASTYM treatment was scientifically developed to target the true underlying cause of many soft tissue problems:  degeneration and inappropriate scarring/fibrosis that interferes movement and causes pain.  One of the factors that guided the scientific research and development of ASTYM treatment was medical science’s recent discovery that tendinopathy is degenerative (worn or broken down) in nature and only rarely has a component of inflammation (the body’s immune system actively responding to an injury or threat).  Generally, most treatments of tendinopathy focus on reducing inflammation, and those treatments have not been very successful.  In light of the recent evidence indicating that degeneration is the underlying cause of tendinopathy, ASTYM treatment was developed with a focus on stimulating the regeneration of healthy tissue, rather than on reducing inflammation, and that is one reason why ASTYM is so effective at resolving tendinopathies.

In addition to ongoing clinical and scientific research, the ASTYM program also emphasizes the collection of practical, clinically useful information.  ASTYM treatment has put major effort into developing a reliable national outcomes collection system and database, where clinicians from all across the country independently enter data to create a national bank of dependable outcomes data.  These outcomes (treatment results) show the percentage of people with each condition that resolve (get better).  Not only does this provide a good real-world evidence base for ASTYM treatment, it also allows patients and health care providers to know how many treatments it should take to resolve a certain condition, and what percentage of those cases should resolve.  For instance, for a patient with plantar fasciitis, you can predict that in 10 therapy visits, 91.8% of patients will be improved or much improved.  To see a full listing of diagnoses and outcomes, click here:  http://www.astym.com/upload/pdf/ASTYM%20Outcome%20Reports.pdf

Because it’s probably tendinosis.  Often, chronic tendonitis (also spelled tendinitis), which lasts more than 6 weeks is really tendinosis (also spelled tendonosis).  The difference is that acute, short-term tendinitis is thought to be caused by inflammation, which is an active immune response of the body to a perceived threat.  The acute, inflammatory tendonitis can be treated and usually resolved within several weeks by icing the area 3 to 4 times daily for 20-30 minutes, resting, and taking over-the-counter or prescription strength anti-inflammatory medication, such as ibuprofen.

Chronic tendonitis is usually defined by the tendon pain lasting more than 6 weeks, and the condition is more accurately referred to as tendinosis.  Tendinosis is mainly caused by degeneration of the tendon.  In order to effectively treat and resolve tendinosis, you must stimulate regeneration of the affected tendon.  There are very few approaches that do this.  ASTYM treatment has been used successfully for years and is the most established treatment to stimulate regeneration of a tendon and other soft tissues.  To view the resolution rates (outcomes) of ASTYM on particular types of tendonitis/tendinosis, click here:  http://astym.com/upload/pdf/ASTYM%20Outcome%20Reports.pdf
 

There is a significant difference between ASTYM treatment and instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) techniques, such as Graston®, Sastm and other tooled friction massage.

Although ASTYM treatment evolved from research on manual therapies, including friction massage, it is very different than friction massage, and its variation, tooled friction massage. Tooled friction massage is often referred to as instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization or IASTM, and is also referred to by the brand of IASTM, such as Graston® Technique or Sastm.  IASTM works simply on a mechanical level, attempting to break down unhealthy tissue, and in the process, these approaches can adversely affect healthy tissue.

Rather than trying to mechanically break down tissue as IASTM does, ASTYM treatment focuses on activating an underlying physiological response leading to the regeneration of soft tissues.  ASTYM treatment was developed and refined over 15 years.  The research that lead to the development of ASTYM treatment began with the review of friction massage, and other manual therapies and how the addition of tools may assist in those approaches. After reviewing how tools could assist in friction massage, the ASTYM research team realized the limitations of IASTM/friction massage, and then they shifted their focus to concentrate on a more effective type of treatment approach.  The ASTYM research team was expanded, and they studied how certain physiological changes can be induced on a cellular level with the proper stimulation.  Inducing the desired underlying physiological responses which result in healing and regeneration became the fundamental factor that guided the development of protocols and application of the ASTYM process.  The goal of ASTYM treatment is to induce biological changes at a cellular level to promote the resorption of scar tissue, and to stimulate tissue turnover and regeneration of soft tissues. 

After years of study, ASTYM treatment developed specific protocols and instrumentation that induce fibroblast activation, macrophage mediated phagocytosis (microdebridement) and local release of growth factors that result in additional fibroblast recruitment and activation.  This is how ASTYM treatment effectively and safely stimulates affected soft tissues to heal and regenerate at a cellular level. ASTYM treatment’s protocols and application ensure that only the unhealthy tissue receives the stimulation it needs to regenerate and heal, and that healthy tissues remain healthy, with no adverse effects from treatment.

There is evidence confirming ASTYM’s effectiveness in the medical literature. In addition, there is a large body of outcome evidence collected from independent clinicians across the country that also confirms the effectiveness of ASTYM treatment, and shows what results a patient can expect for each diagnosis in a real world setting.

In addition to treating the symptomatic area, ASTYM treatment also addresses other areas in the kinetic chain (chain of movement) that may be damaged by the condition (including compensatory areas, such as the tissue that may be overused by limping or other abnormal movement patterns due to pain or lack of function). 

The application and results of IASTM/friction massage are quite variable, and treatment is usually limited to the point of pain only. There is little to no medical evidence showing that friction massage consistently works (perhaps due in part to the inconsistency of application), however, there have been some individual stories where there was positive benefit.  The literature is inconclusive, however, the Cochrane Review did note that deep transverse friction massage showed no consistent benefit for the control of pain, improvement of strength, or improvement of functional status in patients with tendinitis/tendinopathy.

Graston® Technique, Sastm, and ASTYM treatment are very different, but they do share a bit of history.

The history and the research…

Being a former collegiate athlete, I had several nagging injuries.  During my medical training, I made an effort to seek out possible treatments and therapies for my troublesome knee, ankle and elbow pain.  I tried all treatment options I could find, but nothing worked.  Pursuing medical research was an avenue to help me figure out why current treatments would not work on my old injuries.

Twenty years ago, I began practicing medicine, started running a sports medicine medical fellowship and began performing medical research.  Part of my medical research focused on cross-friction massage and other manual therapies.   Dave Graston was a machinist who briefly worked for me.  At the time I hired him, Dave was a line worker for General Motors. 

Dave Graston worked for me machining some basic tools to be used in the research that I was planning on conducting.  At first, my main focus was to look into aspects of Cyriax’ cross friction and many other manual therapies, and how different tools may assist in those approaches.  I worked with Dave for a short period to get some basic tools together. Soon after I outlined the basics for using these tools to do friction massage, Dave left my employment, partnered with a businessman, and began selling tools under the name “Graston Techique.”  Dave Graston is no longer involved with the Graston Technique. He now sells another version of tools which he calls “Sastm”. The Graston Technique is currently run by the businessman that Dave originally partnered with, Mike Arnolt. 

I had no interest in selling tools to do friction massage.  I was focused on my theories and planned research.  After redesigning the instrumentation, my research team and I began investigating optimal ways to stimulate healing and accelerate rehabilitation.  The research team consisted of physicians, therapists, and scientists and we began investigating how to optimize healing responses in the body with different approaches and instruments. Our team performed and reviewed basic science studies, as well as clinical responses for different diagnoses and variations of protocol. Some of these studies were published, and some were not due to evolving ideas and the need to protect intellectual property.   The research team developed a custom outcome system and started collecting data from multiple sites so we could learn from process enhancements in the clinic.  To date, our research team has successfully conducted numerous basic science studies, case series and case studies, outcome studies, and controlled clinical trials.  ASTYM treatment is evidence-based and its development and protocols are firmly grounded in research.  Scientific study continues to be a high priority with ASTYM treatment, and further studies and trials are underway.

For a more detailed discussion on the differences between ASTYM treatment and tooled friction massage (Graston®, Sastm, etc.), click here: http://blog.astym.com/blog/astym/0/0/astym-vs-iastm-graston-sastm-etc-how-they-are-different

Scientific studies have shown an increase in fibroblast recruitment and fibroblast activation with ASTYM treatment, which reveal the body’s underlying physiological response to ASTYM.  These studies highlight the regenerative mechanism of ASTYM treatment and help us understand how ASTYM treatment results in the regeneration of soft tissues. There also appears to be a neurological component to the ASTYM treatment process as evidenced by immediate changes in pain perception (often pain is immediately reduced) and strength measures (strength often immediately increases) following treatment.

At its core, ASTYM treatment was developed from basic science research to stimulate a regenerative response at a cellular level.  Following that, there were a number of case studies published and then a randomized clinical trial on patellar tendinopathy.  A large randomized clinical trial on lateral epicondylosis was then awarded a platform presentation at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand’s national meeting.

In addition to ongoing clinical and scientific research, the ASTYM program also emphasizes the collection of practical information.  ASTYM treatment has put major effort into developing a reliable national outcomes collection system and database, where clinicians from all across the country independently enter data to create a national bank of dependable outcomes data.  These outcomes (treatment results) show the percentage of people with each condition that resolve (get better).  Not only does this provide a good real-world evidence base for ASTYM treatment, it also allows patients and health care providers to know how many treatments it should take to resolve a certain condition, and what percentage of those cases should resolve.  For instance, for a patient with plantar fasciitis, you can predict that in 10 therapy visits, 91.8% of patients will be improved or much improved.  To see a full listing of diagnoses and outcomes, click here:  http://www.astym.com/upload/pdf/ASTYM%20Outcome%20Reports.pdf