Over the last few decades, physiotherapy in Spain has been changing, trying to approach pain management from its different components - physical, psychological, cultural, emotional, spiritual and social - adding alternative therapies and new tools, also known as gadgets, to the conventional treatment. All of this with the aim of achieving a much more comprehensive approach to the individual, allowing a wide range of injuries and pathologies to be covered. Initially, the function of these tools was to relieve the pressure on the hands and fingers of the physiotherapist, facilitating their work. Over time, more and more methods of applying these tools were developed and discovered that improved the results of conventional treatments, reducing inflammation and pain in a more effective way. The most commonly used in consultation are:
1. Instrumental diacutaneous fibrolysis technique or hook technique. These are hook-like tools made of steel, aluminium, plastic or wood. 2. Richelli's tools -made of hard plastic- and Instrumental Fascial Therapy Tools (IFT) and Soft Tissue Therapy Tools (IASTM) -made of stainless steel. All of them are instrumental manual techniques that through the design of specific tools help to feel and find areas or trigger points, allowing with them a greater penetration into the fascial tissue, being able to act on both superficial and deep planes, without the limits that this implies for the therapist's hands. They treat areas identified with scar tissue, soft tissue restrictions, chronic inflammation or degeneration to contribute to faster tissue rehydration and recovery.
Among its most characteristic functions:
- They prevent and improve alterations in muscle tone, promote mobility in muscle and fascial fibres.
- They recover acute and chronic tendon and ligament pathology, disc pathology and acute and chronic nerve entrapment.
- They precisely and analytically mobilise the vertebrae, improving their mobility and resolving nerve compression problems.
- They improve fibrosis and adhesions by restoring elasticity to the tissue, as in the case of scars.
- They relax muscle tone and reduce contractures and spasms.
- They stimulate blood and lymphatic circulation.
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