East Bay Chiropractic Wellness P.C.

Graston

Benefits of Massage Therapy After a Car Accident

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Many people underestimate the physical health benefits of massage, focusing instead on the mental health benefits. However, after an accident or injury, especially a car accident, chiropractic massage can be one of the best ways to promote healing and speed up recovery.

The problem might be that some people simply don’t understand the “therapy” part of massage therapy. According to the Mayo Clinic, a massage therapist “rubs and kneads the soft tissues of your body. The soft tissues include muscle, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, and skin.” This is an integrative part of medicine.

Is Chiropractic Massage Safe After a Car Accident?

Chiropractic massage is used in conjunction with chiropractic care and can be not only safe, but also beneficial after a car accident or work-related injury. In many car accidents, the primary damage is caused by whiplash. This sudden force can move your spine out of alignment, and a chiropractor will assess the safety of adjusting the spine before doing so.

However, once the spine is back in alignment, there may also be damage to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that help the body stabilize the spine. That’s where the massage therapist enters the picture.

The National Institutes for Health say that the research on the benefits of massage are in the preliminary stages, but “massage therapy may be useful for some pain conditions such as low-back pain and chronic neck pain.”

In general, research indicates massage is useful for many of the issues related to injuries after a car accident, including:

  • Increasing range of motion (ROM)
  • Decreasing pain
  • Assisting in healing a client with low back pain (LBP)
  • Enhancing recovery for sciatica symptoms
  • Speeding up overall recovery

How Long Do You Stay Sore After a Car Accident?

Pain after a car accident is different for everyone, but one of the first things to understand is that your pain may not show up immediately after the event. Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is muscle soreness and aches caused by muscle injury. While frequently discussed in relation to exercise, the same thing occurs when you injure a muscle in an accident.

Most people do not feel the damage done in a less serious accident for 12 to 48 hours after the accident. That’s because the body’s adrenaline response masks pain and muscle injuries are not always immediately apparent to the untrained eye. That’s why it is important to get a medical evaluation after any accident. Your body may be more injured than you realize.

Healthline points out that 6.4 million car accidents happened between 2016 and 2020, and the most common symptom of injury reported was lower back pain. That trauma to your back may cause lingering issues for months, so massage therapy is an important part of addressing the issue and promoting healing.

Massage therapy promotes healing by gently stretching and kneading the muscles, encouraging blood flow to the area. Blood flow is necessary for the muscle to begin to repair itself.

Massage therapy has also proven to be excellent at decreasing pain as it helps force the muscles to relax. After a forceful injury, muscles will often tense up and not relax, causing extreme pain to the body. This can also lead to misalignment in the spine, so working with your chiropractor is an important part of the healing process.

Another valuable treatment for injuries related to a car accident is the Graston Technique®. This chiropractic treatment method uses specialized tools to treat soft tissue injuries, such as muscle adhesions and adhesions that can develop after spinal trauma. By treating the adhesions early, they do not become chronic, proper range of motion is maintained, etc. By combining the Graston Technique® with massage therapy, the healing time after a car accident or other injury can even be shortened.

The East Bay Team Can Provide the Right Treatment for Your Injuries

When you are in a car accident, it’s important to get evaluated by your chiropractor as soon as possible to evaluate the extent of the damage to your body and the best treatment plan. Here at East Bay Chiropractic and Wellness, we can help provide the right care for you. Contact us today to start healing.

Common Workplace Injuries That Can Be Treated Using the Graston Technique®

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Now that we’re weeks into the new year, we’re getting fully immersed back into our work with few holidays in sight. While many of us are getting back into the swing of things and keeping our noses to the grindstone, it’s important to also be watching out for our own health and safety.

For many, the holidays can result in a break from regular exercise and other precautions we take to avoid injury, and those habits can be difficult to reintegrate into our schedules if we aren’t proactive about it. In fact, studies have shown that workplace-related injuries jump 23% from December to January, with the highest rates of workplace-related injury occurring in the summer months.

So, with that in mind, what workplace injuries are the most common, and how can they be treated?

What Are the Most Common Workplace Injuries?

There are several common workplace injuries, but they really depend on the job. For example, any job that requires lifting heavy items regularly can lead to a workplace injury if the proper care isn’t taking place throughout the lifting process, and sometimes even if you are. These injuries include:

  • Strains
  • Sprains
  • Pulled muscles
  • And slipped discs

When it comes to office work utilizing computers and similar products, one of the most common injuries is repetitive strain injury, or RSI. Repetitive motions cause this injury due to typing, gripping tools needed constantly for a particular job, and using a mouse. These can also result from the repetitive motion of scanning items as a cashier or repetitive motions as part of being on an assembly line. These injuries can manifest as carpal tunnel syndrome, rotor cuff tendonitis, bursitis, and more.

Which Of the Most Common Workplace Injuries Can Be Treated with Chiropractic Care?

Repetitive strain injuries such as those listed above are readily treated by chiropractic care and the Graston Technique®. By using specifically designed tools, this technique helps to break up adhesions and the damaged tissue around your muscles, tendons, and nerves to restore your range of motion, alleviate your pain, and give your body the ability to heal properly. Other forms of chiropractic care, as well as deep tissue massage, can also be beneficial.

East Bay Chiropractic Wellness P. C. Can Help You Recover from Injuries Faster

Workplace injuries are more than an inconvenience; they can greatly reduce your quality of life if not properly treated. For more than 35 years, East Bay Chiropractic Wellness P.C. has provided a wide range of chiropractic services to fit your needs. We can work with you on pain management and restoring the range of motion in your neck and back through massage, stretching exercises, spinal adjustments, and the Graston Technique®, which has been shown to facilitate faster and more successful rehabilitation. Schedule your appointment today to be evaluated and determine your best options to restore your quality of life.

How Long Does the Graston Technique® Take to Work?

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Similar to the goals of any physical therapy, the overall goal of the Graston Technique® is to reduce a patient’s pain and increase function and mobility. When tissue is damaged, it often heals in a haphazard way that may look dense under a diagnostic ultrasound. Compared to non-damaged tissue, it may appear too thick or irregular, resulting in a restricted range of motion or pain.

By utilizing a specialized form of cross-friction massage in concert with the Graston® tools, adhesions are addressed to initiate and promote positive healing of the affected soft tissue areas. Treatment is done along a kinetic chain, so a patient being treated for back pain may also receive treatment to their hip flexors, abdomen, hamstrings, shoulders, and other regions of the body. These areas may seem unrelated but are actually connected through the body’s fascial network.

How Long Should a Graston® Session Last?

After scanning for areas needing treatment, your Graston® practitioner will apply chiropractic scraping to each area for 30-60 seconds. A full session can take anywhere from about 20 minutes to just under an hour, depending on your body’s needs.

It is perfectly common for patients to experience mild discomfort while experiencing Graston® massage. The overall process, however, leads to greater freedom of movement, better range of motion and less pain.

How Often Should You Get Graston® Done?

Depending on your condition and particular injury, you should wait at least 48 hours between sessions to allow your tissues to heal properly. When getting Graston® treatment sessions, most people schedule two visits per week for about five to six weeks.

Does Graston® Break Up Scar Tissue?

The Graston® tools are typically six pieces that come in a narrow band of shapes designed to work on areas of injured fibrotic tissue. They’re used to break down adhesions and fascia restrictions found in the soft tissue areas affected by trauma. The goal is to stretch and rearrange tissue to reduce restrictions on the treated areas.

What Is the Success Rate of the Graston Technique®?

The Graston Technique® website claims the method has “positive outcomes in 75-90 percent of all conditions treated.” It also purports to be equally effective among pre- and post-surgical patients, maintaining optimal range of motion, and restoring function to acute and chronic injuries. There have also been some studies that claim spinal manipulation can be of help with migraines as well as other pain.

How Many Graston® Sessions Do I Need?

As patients need to give their bodies time to heal correctly from their previous sessions, it can generally take up to five or six weeks with two sessions per week. Many people experience positive results starting around their third week of treatment.

It’s important you discuss any treatment options with a healthcare provider who can work with you and understand, based on your individual circumstances, what plan works best for you and your body.

East Bay Chiropractic Wellness Specializes in The Graston Technique®

At East Bay Chiropractic Wellness, P.C., we have over 30 years of experience in treating patients not just chiropractic care but also the Graston Technique®. Find out how we can treat your condition, alleviate pain, increase your range of motion, and more. Give us a call at (631) 679-2225 or fill out our online form to book an appointment.

How Can the Graston Technique® Treat Chronic Pain?

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The Graston Technique® is a soft-tissue instrument-assisted mobilization, a manual therapy technique used in chiropractic treatments. Instead of using just one’s hands, practitioners of this technique use six instruments combined with a specialized form of massage to achieve a therapeutic effect by releasing adhesions that restrict mobility, causing pain.

Chronic pain is any pain that lasts multiple months (typically 3-6). It’s a common enough problem that roughly 20 percent of all U.S. adults deal with it.

Does Insurance Cover the Graston Technique®?

Chiropractic care isn’t specified in federal essential health benefits requirements. So, whether or not your insurance provider will cover the Graston Technique® will depend on the state you live in and your own personal insurance plan.

Does Graston Help with Whiplash?

If you’ve suffered a car accident injury and you’ve been suffering whiplash for months, then you should see a trained chiropractor or other qualified health professional. They can help you establish a program to help improve your neck’s strength and flexibility.

How Do You Break Up Scar Tissue from Whiplash?

Each of the six core tools used in the Graston Technique® is made of stainless steel and comes in an array of convex and concave shapes. They’re used to scan over the body to detect areas of injured fibrotic tissue.

The Graston Technique® works to break down adhesions and fascial restrictions found in the soft tissue areas affected by trauma. It attempts to stretch and rearrange tissue to reduce restrictions on the treated areas.

Why Is It Important to See a Chiropractor After a Car Accident?

A chiropractor can help reduce pain and discomfort throughout the neck and back. It can also help reduce inflammation and swelling.

Some states require a person involved in a car accident to seek medical treatment within an allotted amount of time close to the time of the incident to qualify for certain times of insurance.

Does Graston Work for Back Pain?

A back injury is one of the most common results of harm from an auto collision. Evidence suggests that massage and other manual therapies can help reduce pain and improve mobility function with chronic nonspecific neck to lower back pain.

Can Graston Help with Back Injuries?

Scar tissue can limit a muscle’s ability to move normally and cause back muscles to tighten, which can work the spine out of alignment. This can lead to a herniated disc, also called a slipped disc.

Can a Slipped Disc Be Fixed by a Chiropractor?

Chiropractic care can prevent a herniated disc from worsening and ease pain symptoms and inflammation. Certain cases of fragmented herniated discs may be beyond being treated by chiropractic care and may require surgery.

Your treatment plan with your chiropractor will vary in specifics depending on your physical activity level, pain level, overall health, and other factors.

East Bay Chiropractic Can Help to Alleviate Pain

For many people, chronic pain is a daily challenge. East Bay Chiropractic specializes in the use of the Graston Technique® in pain management and relief caused by soft tissue fibrosis and chronic inflammation that could lead to constant discomfort or pain. Contact East Bay Chiropractic today and learn more about how we can help you manage your chronic pain with the Graston Technique®.

National Chiropractic Health Month: Relieve, Restore, Resume

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For years, the American Chiropractic Association and chiropractors around the country have celebrated National Chiropractic Health Month in October. This is a way to help raise awareness of the benefits of chiropractic care and how it is both a patient-centric and drug-free approach to pain management. This year’s theme is “Chiropractic: Relieve, Restore, Resume”. This speaks to how chiropractic care, if maintained, can be a long-term solution to chronic pain while avoiding addictive pain medications.

If National Chiropractic Health Month helped get the message out to you, but you still want to know more about what a chiropractor can do for you, we’re here to help.

What Do Chiropractors Do?

Many people assume that chiropractors focus solely on the back and that it’s all spinal manipulation. While that is certainly a focus and area of expertise, chiropractors do much more than that. The spine is a focus because, in many cases, the nerves firing from your spine can cause pain to many other areas of your body, as far up as your head and as far down as your feet.

Chiropractic adjustments can help with pain not just from the spine and bones, but also from soft tissue including muscles, cartilage, joints, and connective tissue. Massage therapy is an effective adjunctive therapy that compliments chiropractic care. Some chiropractors go beyond this and utilize further specialized training, such as the Graston technique®, which requires separate training and licensing and utilizes specific tools to target damage in your soft tissue to alleviate pain.

Are Chiropractic Adjustments Addictive?

Earlier, it was mentioned how chiropractic care is a form of pain management that avoids addictive pain medication. Still, people unfamiliar with the practice may have questions regarding whether chiropractic adjustments themselves are addictive or habit-forming. While there are several myths around chiropractic care, there is no evidence to suggest chiropractic adjustments are addictive.

This could come from a misconception that you may need periodic adjustments as part of your pain management and interpret that as a form of addiction. Unlike an addiction, you wouldn’t need to increase the frequency of chiropractic adjustments to achieve the same result. That said, it is still important to do your research and choose a well-respected chiropractor with a good track record for your care.

Explore The Benefits of Chiropractic Care This National Chiropractic Health Month

In addition to other tried and true chiropractic care practices, East Bay Chiropractic specializes in the use of the Graston Technique® in pain management and relief caused by soft tissue fibrosis and chronic inflammation. In fact, we are the first on Long Island to be certified in the use of the technique. And with over 30 years of experience, you know you’ll be in good hands. Contact East Bay Chiropractic today and learn more about how we can help you manage your chronic pain, or to continue your journey towards a more comfortable life starting this National Chiropractic Health Month.

What Is the Difference Between Graston and Gua Sha?

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Chiropractic care can help relieve stress and pain in the body and improve our overall quality of life. Many chiropractors have a similar set of skills they can implement to give their clients relief, which includes spinal manipulation and massage therapy, as well as more specialized skills, such as the ancient Chinese practice of acupuncture. Other separately specialized skills like acupuncture include the ancient practice of Gua Sha and specifically, the Graston technique.

So, is there a difference between Gua Sha and the Graston Technique®?

Are Graston And Gua Sha The Same?

Gua Sha

Similar to acupuncture, Gua Sha also finds its roots in ancient China. This practice dates back to the Paleolithic age and predates acupuncture by thousands of years. Traditional Gua Sha involves scraping parts of the body with a smoothed edge tool, such as a spoon, a coin, or a tool made of gemstone. The goal is to reduce inflammation and improve circulation by bringing blood to the targeted area to expedite the healing process, which is why the scraping of the skin with a smooth-edged tool, when done properly, creates small red dots under the skin.

The Graston Technique®

In terms of approach, the Graston Technique® is part of the greater Gua Sha umbrella. Unlike traditional Gua Sha and some of its other offshoots, including facial Gua Sha, the Graston Technique® involves using tools that target the deeper muscles and tendons rather than focusing on the skin and the capillaries on the surface. A certified Graston Technique® Specialist (GTS), like Dr. Marmorale can target damaged muscle tissue and fascia to smooth it out and relax it, reducing pain and restoring range of motion.

Is Graston Better Than Massage?

When it comes to chiropractic care, the best treatment is the one that is right for tackling your pain or discomfort head-on. A chiropractor should first meet with you and give you an evaluation to see what the source or sources of your pain are so they can work with you on a treatment plan. While the Graston Technique® is great for addressing deep-tissue trauma, massage therapy is just an entirely different approach.

You can expect the Graston Technique® to be applied to affected areas for about a minute at a time. Meanwhile, a massage therapy session could be anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half. While massage therapy does cover affected areas, it is also an overall more encompassing therapy, whereas the Graston Technique® is very targeted. The two forms of therapy are not mutually exclusive; consult with a chiropractor on what will work best for you.

East Bay Chiropractic Wellness P. C. Can Help Treat Many Common Conditions Safely and Efficiently

For more than 35 years, East Bay Chiropractic Wellness P.C. has been providing a wide range of chiropractic services to best fit your needs. We are proudly one of Long Island’s only Graston Technique® specialists and have been for more than a decade, giving our clients access to expanded care options that are simply unavailable elsewhere. By utilizing a combination of chiropractic care and recommended lifestyle changes, we can help you reduce your pain and increase your quality of life. Reach out to us at (516) 679-2225, or you can schedule your appointment online.