Graston Technique in Wilmington.

Instrument-assisted soft tissue work for scar tissue and stubborn tendon pain, followed by the loading that rebuilds it.

Branded Instrument System Scar tissue and tendons Talk to a Specialist

What It Is

A tool that finds what fingers walk past.

Graston Technique is a specific, branded system of instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (the broader category is known as IASTM). A set of stainless steel instruments, each shaped for a different contour of the body, is swept along the tissue in question instead of a thumb.

The instrument does two jobs at once. It picks up dense, restricted tissue that your therapist can feel right through the handle, and it delivers a controlled amount of pressure to that exact spot for longer than a hand can hold it.

It earns its place where an old scar, a healed strain, or a cranky tendon has left an area thickened and unwilling to slide. Treatment is followed by loading in the same visit, because tissue remodels around how you use it.

Doctor of Physical Therapy using a Graston instrument along a patient's calf Instrument-assisted, evaluation-led

What It Helps

Where Graston shines.

Scar tissue and tendon pain don’t answer to stretching. They answer to work on the tissue and then load.

Elbow pain that flares on a handshake That first step out of bed Tendon pain on every step down A cuff that’s been cranky for months The old strain that never fully let go Scar tissue from a surgery years ago

What A Session Looks Like

Three steps, one visit.

1

The instrument maps the restricted tissue.

2

We work that exact area, at your pressure.

3

We load the tissue before you leave.

Why It Works

Four reasons the instrument helps.

Finds restriction fingers walk right past.

Precise pressure, held where it counts.

Built for scar tissue and tendon pain.

Followed by loading, so tissue remodels.

Pairs Well With

The tool opens it. Something has to keep it.

Therapeutic Exercise Tendons rebuild around load. This is the half of the work that lasts. Dry Needling When a trigger point deeper in the muscle is feeding the same problem. IASTM The broader instrument-assisted category Graston belongs to, for areas a different tool fits better.

Questions, Answered

Graston Technique, no mystery.

IASTM stands for instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization, and it’s the category. Graston Technique is a well known, branded instrument system inside that category, and it is the one we use on this page. If you are looking for the broader category, visit our IASTM page.

Most people describe it as gritty and firm over the restricted spot, then noticeably lighter as it clears. Some skin redness afterward is normal and it fades. Pressure is adjustable and it’s your call, so tell your therapist and it changes right then.

Often, yes, as long as the incision is fully healed. Scar tissue can tether the layers around it and change how the whole area moves, which is why people feel pulling far from the scar itself. Your evaluation tells us whether the scar is actually part of your problem or just the most visible thing.



Book Your Visit

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Request a time and a real person calls you back, usually within two business hours. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.

  • Hours Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 5:30pm
  • (910) 782-2150 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
  • No referral needed to start

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