Back pain treatment using the Graston technique in NYC.

There are many treatment options available for back pain caused by soft tissue problems, such as a back muscle strain. One method of treatment is soft tissue instrument assisted mobilization, which is a form of manual therapy designed to break down scar tissue and restrictions that are usually associated with some form of trauma to the soft tissue (such as a strained muscle, pulled ligament, tendon and fascia).

The instruments used in the Graston Technique are concave and convex-shaped handheld stainless steel instruments, which the practitioner rubs against the patient, using very specific methods, to help break down the scar tissue and promote a healing environment.

The Graston Technique is a relatively new form of soft tissue mobilization that uses specifically designed stainless steel instruments to help the practitioner identify and break down the scar tissue.

Soft Tissue Injuries and Back Pain

Most of the back is comprised of muscles, ligaments and tendons, and injuries to these soft tissues play a significant role in the pain and dysfunction associated with back problems. While it may not sound like a serious injury, a simple muscle strain or torn ligament in the back can cause excruciating pain and difficulty with movement.

How the Graston Technique Works

This form of manual therapy comprises soft tissue mobilization and incorporates the use of stainless-steel instruments. The goal of the therapy is to separate and break down the scar tissue, as well as stretch connective tissue and muscle fibers. There also appears to be a neurologic component to treating patients with the Graston Technique Instruments. There remain many aspects of this therapy for which we have no explanation and no clinical trials or other studies to verify the outcomes.

The Graston Technique uses the instruments with a specialized form of massage that is designed to help the practitioner identify areas of restriction and break up the scar tissue. The concave and convex stainless steel instruments are used to comb over and catch on injured fibrotic tissue.

Using a cross-friction massage, which involves brushing or rubbing against the grain of the scar tissue, the practitioner re-introduces small amounts of trauma to the affected area. This temporarily causes inflammation in the area, which in turn increases the rate and amount of blood flow in and around the area. The theory is that this process helps initiate and promote the healing process of the affected soft tissues.

Treatment is rendered along the kinetic chain and thus a patient presenting with back pain might also receive treatment to the hip flexors, abdomen, hamstrings and other regions of the body.

Graston Technique Practitioners

The majority of practitioners specializing in this technique are chiropractor, osteopathic physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists and occupational therapists, and it is also available to medical doctors and registered nurses.

Fairly extensive training is required in order to use the technique. Graston Technique training consists of 2 modules:

• Module 1 is a 12-hour course that teaches a global approach to the use of the instruments. It also covers research articles, indications, contraindications, the 7 strokes used with the instruments and several hours of hands-on utilization of the instruments.

• Module 2 is a 14 hour course and is more condition specific. The clinician is introduced to adding motion during treatment and how to utilize the instruments for nerve flossing as described by Shacklock and Butler.

At the time of this article, there are no peer-reviewed published clinical studies regarding the effectiveness of the Graston Technique in relieving lower back pain or neck pain. The research that has been conducted indicates a relatively high success rate for patients with chronic back pain and neck pain from soft tissue injuries, both in terms of improving the patient’s function and reducing pain.

We utulize the Graston technique in our NYC office along with ART, Kinesio taping and Cox technique.

If you are suffering with back or neck pain give us a call at

(212) 645-1495 for an immediate appointment.

Back pain NYC-Best back pain treatment.

In our office we utilize multiple disciplines to alleviate your back pain and return you back to the things that you enjoy.

Back pain can interfere with everyday activity like putting on your shoes, going to the bathroom and many more activities that depend on you ability to move properly.

When you visit our NYC Back pain office we will evaluate the source of back pain we do this with a comprehensive exam and if necessary we offer On-site diagnostics like Digital radiographs (x-rays) and Diagnostic ultrasound that can see exactly where it hurts and what is going on.

Once we diagnosis the problem, we offer a multiple prong approach to end your pain as quickly as possible and start your recovery. Dr. Arnold Blank MD is our on site pain management specialist. He can prescribe the appropriate pain medication and determine what is the most appropriate course of treatment either Chiropractic care, Physical therapy, Medical Massage, Acupuncture or a combination methods.

Most major medical insurance covers most of the services we provide, we offer a initial complimentary consultation to determine if we can help you.

Does your Back pain come from :

Herniated disc: leaking of disc material into the spinal canal
Spinal Stenosis:narrowing of the spinal canal
Spondylolishtesis: an out-of-line vertebra
Facet joint syndrome: degeneration of the joints holding the vertebrae together
Scoliosis: abnormal lateral curvature of the spine
Sacroiliac joint problems: degeneration of the joint that connects the sacrum to the pelvic bone
or discogenic low back pain
There are allot of different types of back pain and our team of experts work together to identify and effectively correct these problems with a combination of non-invasive and non surgical cutting edge technology's like
Spinal decompression on the DRX 9000
Cold laser therapy with the Erchonia laser
Power Plate Whole body vibration
Kinesio taping and the Graston Technique.
Physical therapy and the Mackenzie technique
Digital gait scan analysis and Custom orthotic fabrication.
Prolotherapy injections
If you live or work in Manhattan and suffer with Back pain, look no further then www.livingwellnewyork.com

Kinesio Tape Comes of Age

by Greg Thompson

Few who watched the 2008 Beijing Olympics will forget the Gold Medal beach volleyball performance of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor. The black Kinesio tape atop Walsh’s 6-foot, 3-inch frame, in stark contrast to her white bathing suit, also sparked a good deal of speculation.

Internet message boards made wild guesses. Was it a political statement or a sponsor’s logo? Perhaps a memorial to a deceased relative? Countless therapists knew the answer, but viewers were mystified. According to several reports, Walsh’s therapists used the tape to stabilize the superstar’s surgically repaired shoulder and boost blood circulation.

Steven Huber, PT, CKTI, estimates that about 200 athletes used Kinesio tape during the Olympics, and the kinesiotaping.com Web site reports that a donation of Kinesio® Tex Tape Gold™ for the 2008 games contributed to a “groundswell of support by Olympians from around the world” and a lot of free publicity. “In many sports, Kinesio tape is actually covered by the athlete’s clothes,” says Huber, also an orthotist and owner of Huber Associates, a private physical therapy practice in Auburn, Me. “At one point with the beach volleyball, Misty had tape on her leg, and Kerri had it on her shoulder. Their opponents also had the tape on, so there were four different players with four different colors of the same product on.”

Rob Brandon, MPT, ATC, CKTI, works with Kinesio tape on both upper and lower extremities.

With that kind of worldwide exposure, it is no surprise that patients began to inquire about the baffling tape patterns. Will therapists be at a disadvantage if they don’t learn the techniques, and will the therapy continue to gain in stature? “I think that kinesio taping is already hugely accepted,” says Huber, one of just two certified Kinesio tape instructors (CKTI) in the entire Northeast region encompassing six states. “I really believe that people who do not know how to do the technique in the next 5 years will be well behind the eight ball.”

With just 50 CKTIs in the United States, getting that training may take some patience. However, Huber and his colleagues believe that seeking out instruction from properly trained individuals is crucial if you want the best results. The highest-profile credentialing organization is the Albuquerque, NM-based Kinesio Taping Association (KTA), which receives the full blessing of the technique’s founder, Kenzo Kase, DC, a Japan-based chiropractor who invented Kinesio Tex Tape tape in the early 1970s.

Huber teaches a KTA-endorsed standardized method, which is broken down into three sections. KT1 is an introductory class to learn the basics of how to tape muscles, while KT2 focuses on corrective techniques that involve stretching the tape to varying amounts and applying it in different directions. Finally, KT3 is the advanced application. All courses must be a minimum of 8 full hours each, and some KT3 courses can be as much as 12 hours.

All courses feature hands-on applications so practitioners learn how to cut, stretch, and place the tape. Huber starts with the basic principle of positioning the tape from the origin of the muscle to the insertion point (proximal to distal). Students learn that the tape can be used to inhibit pain, facilitate or inhibit a muscle, and re-educate muscles in lower and upper extremities. “You can use it for circulatory or lymphatic flow to change swelling and alter tissue turgor,” Huber explains. “You can use it for scar management, to change fascia, and to redirect fascial curves. It is a mechanical application that has a physiological response. When you put this 2-inch-wide strip of cotton material that has an acrylic backing in the shape of a fingerprint, you are causing microconvolutions in the epidermis, and you are unloading the sensory receptors under the skin and changing the lymphatic flow.”

EVIDENCE AND ANECDOTES

Ultimately, results are what continue to fuel the relatively young phenomenon of Kinesio taping. In one of many examples, a young lady recently came to Huber’s practice suffering from shin splints, a condition she had been experiencing for the past 3 years. “I had her run, and she had the pain as usual,” Huber says. “I taped her, had her run again, and the pain was gone. I taught her the home program because she was headed off to college. She has a chronic problem, and I don’t profess that the tape got rid of it with one application. But now she can learn the program, how to use the tape over a certain period of time, and she can call me and follow up that way.”

Another 19-year sciatica sufferer received tape once per week in Huber’s office for about 6 weeks, and he has essentially been pain-free for the last year and a half. Nerve pain, rib fractures, and even chest tube drain holes can be treated with Kinesio tape.

Rob Brandon, MPT, ATC, CKTI, a therapist at Napa Valley Physical Therapy Center, Napa, Calif, completed a formal study with three different patellofemoral patients of all different ages (91, 56, and 12), with positive results. “We decreased pain and increased their ability to perform different functional tasks,” says Brandon, one of seven CKTIs in five western states. “It really shows how the Kinesio taping method can be used across all ages and throughout the rehabilitation process.”

Prior to earning his instructor credentials, Brandon had success treating patients in the clinic, with pain reduction literally happening in just minutes in some cases. As owner of Rob Brandon Seminars (www.robbrandonseminars.com), he has now shared his knowledge using a KTA-approved curriculum. One question Brandon gets at his seminars: Does Kinesio tape replace compression garments? The answer is that while Kinesio tape does help to control inflammation and pain, compression garments are different in their application and results.

Brandon believes Kinesio tape can be used in conjunction with many different modalities, including compression hosiery in some cases, and he views this as a strength of the tape and its applications. Harkening back to the founder’s belief, Brandon sees Kinesio tape as a way to have his “hands go with the patient” as they leave the clinic, with the benefit of making real changes within a treatment session.

Having taught throughout the United States, Hong Kong, and Japan, Brandon says people are open to the method, but the biggest challenge is helping therapists relearn how to use tape. “Rigid athletic tapes are used to stabilize an area,” Brandon says. “And you use quite a bit of tension as you wrap the tape on. The Kinesio tape takes more subtlety. It is an elastic tape, so it takes more skill to lay the tape on with the right amount of tension. That is the biggest challenge with teaching people, although within a weekend therapists definitely get the idea of how to put it on properly.”

Brandon acknowledges that therapists rely on literature and research, and he says the KTA is slowly but surely building its evidence. Next year’s international symposium in Rome is expected to reveal the latest research and bolster anecdotal claims. Huber agrees that the literature is “pretty basic” right now, but he too believes the annual conferences, and next year’s international symposium, will go a long way toward helping therapists understand the physiology. “We can see that Kinesio taping works, but you have to understand the rationale and the physiology of it,” Huber says. “If the patients understand, they are also more compliant.”

Huber and Brandon view Kinesio tape as yet another excellent device in the therapist’s tool kit, and one that can easily be used in harmony with more familiar modalities that heal upper and lower extremities. “One of the most important things for any physical therapist or occupational therapist to know is that Kinesio taping is an adjunct to existing techniques,” Huber assures. “It enhances what we do and reinforces what we do clinically, and helps us to get results better and faster.”

One misconception is that Kinesio tape works only while it is on, and “that is absolutely false,” Huber stresses. Instead, he says the purpose of having the tape on is to change what is beneath the tape and what is in the surrounding area. “You are changing fluids and changing input to the sensory receivers,” Huber says. “So the tape is working while it is on, but the goal should always be to use the tape to do a procedure, accomplish something, and then not use it.”

Beyond the highly visible realms of Olympic competition, Huber believes Kinesio tape can ultimately gain a foothold beyond the athletic arena and even treat headaches. In fact, his conversations with therapists at the Midwest Headache Center already reveal that clinicians are using the tape to treat headaches in a way that is noninvasive and subtle. “My focus is neuro, so when I think about central nervous system learning, I think about consistency of input and repetition,” Huber says. “What better way than to apply a product that is going to give us specific sensory input for 3 to 5 days. That consistent input is repetitive, and it helps the central nervous system.”

Dr. Steven Shoshany is a Certified Kinesio Taping Practioner or CKTP visit www.drshoshany.com

 learn  more about Kinesio taping in NYC

Are you running in the NYC Marathon this Sunday?

If so you should learn more about Kinesio tape

Kinesio tex tape is Kinesiology Tape. K-Active Tape, KTtape  and SpiderTechtape are brand names of different kinds of kinesiology tape-- each offering different application benefits. Also dubbed ‘tattoo tape’.

Prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, elite and pro athletes as well as some physical therapists and ATCs (athletic trainers) were religious in their use of Kinesio Tape  in relieving pain and promoting the healing process of injured and surgically-repaired muscles. Lance Armstrong has written about the tape and soccer superstar David Beckham has endorsed the K-Active brand of this tape.

Two Kinesiology Tape Brands in the U.S. and Europe. Kinesio is the original kinesiology tape brand marketing in the U.S. and K-Active is the European brand name. There is also Rock Tape, SpiderTech Tape and KT Tape.

Until Kerri Walsh applied the tape to her previously injured shoulder in the beach volleyball tournament at the 2008 Olympics, this athletic tape was relatively unknown. Thanks to the marketing genius of donating over 200,000 rolls of it to the Olympic athletes, this tape was thrust into the spotlight.

This is the basic principle behind
Kinesiology tape, the magic tape.

Kinesiology, or Human Kinetics, is the science of human movement. It focuses on how the body moves and functions. The practice of Kinesiology involves applying principals of movement to facilitate rehabilitation, prevention and management to maintain, rehabilitate and enhance movement, performance, and function in the areas of sport, activity and labor.

How kinesio tape works

Kinesio Taping alleviates pain and facilitates lymphatic drainage by microscopically lifting the skin.

The taped portion forms convolutions in the skin, thus increasing interstitial space. The result is that pressure and irritation are taken off the neural and sensory receptors, alleviating pain. Pressure is gradually taken off the lymphatic system, allowing it to channel more freely. 

It’s not glamorous looking and it basically looks like an ordinary roll of tape. For purposes of sports med, this tape helps in ligament injuries, muscle conditioning, fascia repositioning and even carpal tunnel syndrome.

This flexible tape with the elasticity of skin is supposed to be applied to the skin in patterns that mimic the muscles. It is designed to support and guide injured muscles and joints for faster rehabilitation without limiting an athlete’s range of motion.

The Kinesio Tape is 100-percent cotton and modeled on the thickness and elasticity of real skin. The flexible tape is applied to the skin in specific patterns with your muscles, and it doesn’t stick until you warm in with your hands in the application process. So you can lay it down in patterns and not have to unstick it to move it since it doesn’t fuse to the skin until you rub it to warm and activate the glue

Dr. Steven Shoshany is  NYC Chiropractor and a Certified Kinesio taping practioner.

Visit www.drshoshany.com

New York Chiropractic Yankees

 planetc1.com-news by Michael Dorausch, DC

The New York Yankees and chiropractic have been in the news the past few weeks thanks to major-league baseball player Johnny Damon. In most recent news, the New York Times reported earlier this week that the Yankees would be hiring a team chiropractor, apparently on the advice of Johnny Damon. There were several articles circulating in the news about Johnny Damon and the chiropractic care he has been receiving in Orlando, Florida. According to Damon, his chiropractor is amazing. The New York Yankees center field ballplayer hopes his chiropractic care will translate into better results on the field, not only for himself, but for his team. This wouldn't be the first time the New York Yankees have utilized the team chiropractor. Back in May of 1934, a magazine from the National Chiropractic Association featured a front-page photo of New York Yankees team chiropractor (Dr. Painter) working with a ballplayer, with Babe Ruth watching on. I don't know if there's any truth of this, but I once heard that at the time, the New York Yankees asked the New York Daily News to keep quiet about the Yankees having a team chiropractor, which was from the 1920s to the 1930s. Apparently, they wanted to maintain a competitive edge by keeping the chiropractic care a secret. Perhaps coincidentally, the Yankees recorded their best season ever (1927 - World Champions) and won four World Championships (1923, 1927-1928, 1932) during the time of Dr. Erie Painter, chiropractor. According to various news reports, Johnny Damon has not spent a single day on baseball's disabled list during his lengthy playing career. Planet Chiropractic would like to recognize and congratulate Johnny Damon, the New York Yankees management, and the entire Yankees organization, for their continued support and utilization of chiropractic care in the field of professional athletics. You can visit the official Johnny Damon web site at johnnydamon.net to view his bio, long list of awards and records, as well as some very impressive statistics.

www.drshoshany.com