Tendinopathy: Stimulate New Growth with Graston Technique®

Graston Technique^®(GT) is my “go-to” treatment approach for Achilles tendinopathy. This condition typically affects active individuals between ages 30-50. As with most conditions I treat, a major factor in establishing a treatment plan is identifying the stage of the condition, as this dictates my treatment approach.

Tendinopathy: Acute or Chronic?

Tendinopathy refers to any disease of a tendon. This can be an acute inflammatory condition, called tendonitis, or a chronic, degenerative, non-inflammatory condition – referred to as tendinosis. The difference between the two has a physiologic basis. To make an analogy, consider an acute condition as a hot burning fire. There’s active inflammation and the treatment strategies should reflect the philosophy of first controlling, and then extinguishing the fire so that it doesn’t result in harm to the adjacent tissue. Modalities to control the inflammatory process are indicated, as well as interventions designed to reduce the abusive load, such as activity modification, stretching, and heel lifts.²

Tendinosis is a chronic degenerative condition often related to overuse. This would be analogous to rotting wood in the forest. Symptoms typically include pain and stiffness upon initiating activity, which leads to progressive pain with increased activity. Increased tendon thickness is often observed, and the tendon is often tender to palpation. Pain is caused by neurovascular ingrowth – a hallmark feature of tendinosis – not by an inflammatory process.⁶ Treatment strategies in this situation should concentrate on bringing new life to the tissue, strengthening it, and encouraging new growth and organization.

To stimulate new growth, the interventions need to influence the fibroblast. The fibroblast is responsible for many functions, which include secreting collagen and other components of the extracellular matrix, and assisting in scar formation. They change in form depending on load. We need to affect the fibroblasts, and encourage them to lay down collagen in an organized manner. The Alfredson protocol for eccentric exercise has been shown to be an effective intervention for the treatment of Achilles tendinosis; however, the recommended treatment period is 12 weeks.¹ GT has the potential to achieve positive outcomes in less time.

Graston Technique^®

Graston Technique^® – a unique form of IASTM (instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization) combined with exercise used to identify and treat soft tissue dysfunction – has been clinically shown to effectively treat Achilles tendinosis. It’s an effective method for:

• identifying and treating restrictions in the kinetic chain to decrease abnormal load on the tendon in the acute phase,
• loading the tendon to stimulate new growth in the chronic phase.

GT has case series,¹² case reports,^5,9,10 a retrospective study,¹¹ and numerous animal models that support these concepts.

Studies in animal models have shown that delivering pressure through the tissue with an instrument results in proliferation and activation of fibroblasts, stimulating collagen production.^3,4 It’s plausible to deduce that the same concept would also be true in humans. GT has been shown to increase blood flow into an area, which has the potential to increase the rate of healing for ligaments.⁸ There’s the potential for GT to accelerate tendinosis injury by improving fiber alignment, and to strengthen the tissue as a result of influencing collagen production and alignment.⁷

GT Progression

In a chronic phase, my treatment goals are to improve the capacity of the tendon and muscle to handle load, while avoiding exacerbation of the pathologic state. GT is an effective method for progressively loading the tendon. We increase the load on the tendon with the instruments, as well as with exercise. Initially, treatments are performed in a static, non-weight bearing position. We gradually add active, then resistive motion while weight-bearing – concepts that are introduced in the GT Module 2 Advanced Training. As the tendon becomes stronger, GT can eventually be performed in conjunction with eccentric exercise. Careful progression of this loading principle will result in new growth to the tendinopathic tissue.

Successful management of Achilles tendinopathy involves first properly identifying the stage of the condition. Then, choose the appropriate intervention to address the condition. Whether you’re treating the tendinopathic tissue in an acute or a chronic state, proper management of load is key.