Tearing or pulling a muscle can be painful and take a long time to heal, but now an unusual technique is giving people relief from pain and helping them heal.
"I don't even know how I did it," said 33-year-old Michelle Midger. "Just one day I was running and the next day I woke up and it was really sore."
Turns out, Midget pulled her hamstring. After six months of seeing several doctors, she was still in too much pain to run.
"You'd hear everything," she said. "Put heat on it. You'd hear, don't put heat on it. Put ice on it. You'd hear just stretch, just get a massage. I've heard everything."
But there was one method she hadn't heard about: the Graston Technique. Therapists say using these silver, shiny tools, they can help to heal all sorts of muscular skeletal injuries, including common problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow and rotator cuff injuries.
"We use that to break down the scar tissue around the joint to loosen up tight and restricted muscles, thereby reducing a person's pain and being able to restore them to proper optimal function," said Chiropractor Riccardo Tersigni.
Tersigni is a Fairfax chiropracter who is also certified in physical therapy. He said the tools are used to give an extremely intense massage. The rubbing motion helps to get rid of the scar tissue that forms when a muscle is injured.
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"Just like a scar on your skin, the same things happens when you tear a muscle," he said. "I can feel things with the tools that I would normally not be able to feel with my hands."
Each tool has a differently shaped edge to work on different areas of the body. The rubbing and pressure can cause bruising, but Midget said she'll deal with some black and blues if it's going to help her run again.
"It's been three months and I can not believe that I am virtually pain free," She said.
She's even running the Marine Corp Marathon in October.
"I just did a 4-hour, 20-mile run this weekend and that's the first time I've ever gone that far. It's absolutely invigorating."
Most patients typically benefit from about 15 treatment sessions, which take about 5 to 10 minutes. Therapists also stress that this should be done combined with a stretching and conditioning program for best results.
