Graston
 

Today I had graston done to me for the first time today. It didn't hurt at all on my back - felt like a massage. It was a little uncomfortable on the outside of the shoulders, side of the neck, and triceps.

I'm planning to update this thread to let people know if I get any relief from it.

My fingertips have been hypersensitive the past couple of days and this increased a little more so following the graston, so I take this as a good sign.

Okay, I've done the Graston 3 times now. I don't feel any major change, but I can certainly feel/hear the "crunchy" fibroids that she is working on.

I have a new Physical Therapist that will be doing "manual therapy" twice a week for 30 minues. AKA, a really awesome back rub that focuses on all the knots in my back cause by the TOS. He is a god sent.

Insurance only pays for 60 sessions of these two combined per year. I am going to use them up pretty quickly, but I am also interested to see if this much intense work will help. I am also exercising a lot, so hopefully I can build the muscles to hold my posture in a more relaxed position.

I've now been approved for disability, so I have lots of time to work on myself...haha, pretty much all of my time. So anyway, my right now goal is to go back to school to study Early Childhood Special Education and get healthier so that I can work by the time that I finish that program. I figure that type of work won't require desk/typing work, so that might be something I would be able to do. Hopefully...

Hi Eight,

I have muscle knots/thick fibres too in traps.Any idea the reason for these?
I am also doing master of engineering to take up professor job after 2 yrs.Hoping to get better in couple of yrs .how do you think about my plan? I am really afraid about the failure since its my only option now.

The reason traps get tight with TOS is because of the scalenes being tight. When I got botox in the anterior and middle scalenes, by traps loosened right up. See if you can find someone to do "Ultrasound guided botox of the anterior scalenes" and then possibly add the middle scalene and pectoralis minor if appropriate. The anterior scalene is ALWAYS an issue.

Teaching would be better than being at a computer all day long.

Botox is a temporary solution right? How long it gives relief?

Depends on the person. Some people apparently cured by botox and PT. I can totally see how that would be possible if caught early on and/or a mild case of TOS and/or Pec Minor Syndrome.

So I have been doing the graston twice a week for a few weeks now. Holy heck, it can be painful, I might try putting lidocaine patches on about an hour before hand. The tissue in my SCMs have literally shrunk...on one side more than the other though, lol. She is also doing this on the deltoids, triceps, supraspinatus (this is my most painful muscle at this time), rhomboids and traps.

I'm also doing PT twice a week with a lot of manual therapy aka, seriously intense massaging to get the knots out. Also doing "muscle memory" exercises to work on posture and abs in PT. (I am one year post op on one side and 8 months post op on the other side)

I got one round of dry needling with lidocaine, I recommend this over just dry needling, the lidocaine made this a great experience vs. the dry needing without lidocaine which is sort of like torture, but does relax the muscle.

My insurance gives me 60 chiropractic and PT sessions a year, at this current rate, I will use them up in three months though... :(

I think you are on the right path and by next year you will be much much better.

Botox, graston, dry needling, cupping, PT, stretching, exercise have all had their place in the maintenance of my TOS.

Botox alone is going to be nothing more than temporary relief. Botox combined with PT hopefully allows you to make progress that could not be made without the Botox.

Graston helped me overcome elbow tenderness and hand numbness caused by snapping triceps syndrome. I never had a problem w/ this prior to TOS. When I started going back to the gym a couple years ago, it was preventing me from making progress. A few months of graston worked wonders. No more snapping tricep.