The Stick is a wonderful tool that we use here in the clinic almost every day and on almost every patient. we actually sell them here, but you can also buy them at their website too.
We use The Stick two ways:
- To smooth out dense connective tissue thickenings and
- to treat "trigger points" in the muscle.
Trigger points were first identified by Janet Travell, MD, President Kennedy's physician. These are microscopic areas of inflammation in the muscle tissue that lead to local muscle fiber contraction. Trigger points are palpable, painful and they interfere with normal muscle function. The Stick is used to treat these trigger points in a "seek and destroy" fashion. Yes its painful! The key is to find the trigger point, press hard and maintain the pressure as long as you can to let the trigger point resolve. You should find an immediate increase in flexibility of the muscle. Allow a day or two to pass before you do it again.The other way we use The Stick is to "brush" the dense connective tissue. we do this by rolling gently, but deep enough to affect change in the way the tissue feels. It is not so much a trigger point level of pressure, but rather the rolling can be a before or an after exercise activity. My athletic patients who use the stick find this to be a very worthwhile process.
My theory is that the benefit of The Stick accrues because local dense connective tissue trauma produces local dense connective tissue scarring. That local scarring produces a local thickening of the tissue, that in turn interferes with normal function, ie elasticity, of the tissue. Using The Stick over time leads to a softening of those local scars, and allows the normalization of the elastic properties of the dense connective tissues. In turn, muscles can cantract and develop tension normally, and the overall function of the part improves perceptibly.
There you have it.
Again, if you would like a Stick, we carry a couple of them for sale.
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