Graston Technique Instruments: GT4

An introduction to Graston Technique

If you're already a patient of mine you will be very familiar with Graston Technique (GT) and how I use it, but there are many who have never experienced it. So I've created a series of posts to give you a better understanding of the GT instruments how I use them to get my patients pain free and moving again.

GT4 otherwise known as...

I'm going to start with the instrument I use the most in my practice: GT4 AKA the 'scanner' or as a few of my patients affectionately call it- 'the butter knife'. I use GT4 a lot because it's a very versatile instrument, and with its convex treatment surface provides a huge amount of 'feedback' from the body tissue. GT4 is called the scanner because it is often used first to scan a muscle or line of fascia to localise a lesion before applying a more focused treatment.

Common uses for GT4

A common way I use GT 4 is with tension-type headaches- I will scan the upper trapezius muscle for lesions (aka 'knots'). From there I can use the broad, sweeping curve of GT4 to quickly break up as much of the scar tissue as possible before using another more focused instrument like GT3 or GT6 to 'frame' the area and promote healing. All up, I will use GT4 for 30-60 seconds on one area at a time, any longer will just over-inflame the area potentially undoing any good we've just done!

I've usually got this guy in my back pocket when I'm adjusting because it helps me quickly find lesions that would otherwise go unnoticed just using the hands.

Other common myofascial lesions I will use GT4 on are

• plantar fasciitis

• shin splints

• Achilles tendonopathy

• tennis elbow

• quadriceps/hamstring strain-sprain

So there's GT4! My go-to instrument for finding and breaking down pain causing fascial lesions. I could probably get away with using just GT4 but there are five other instruments for me to use! Stay tuned for my next GT spotlight: GT 3.