If it Hurts, it Must be Working!

So, I just went for my second treatment today of ASTYM for my tight glute and hip. From my previous post, you might recall my "electric" but pleasant experience with e-stim. Well, when I went back for my second treatment last week there was a floating therapist who took my case on and after a few questions she declared, "you would be a perfect candidate for the tool." Boy was I excited! I was only imagining what a great massage "the tool" could provide. Hahaha, silly me! I soon learned "the tool" referred to the not very well known procedure, ASTYM, which has a nickname of; scraping! I can't recall anything that is as painful as ASTYM.

You can look up the procedure but basically it involves the therapist rubbing a plastic like squeegee over areas that cause problems. It causes the sking to get red and puffy and feels like someone is ripping the skin away from your muscle. It sounds like scratching sandpaper! The proccess is used to stimulate the recovery process of your body to repair your tissue. The therapist encourages serious stretching and working out which is great news for people who don't want to Rest to Recover!

When she did the therapy I was literally squeezing my pillow and gritting my teeth. At one point I just started laughing because I couldn't believe the pain. Of course, I wasn't going to cry uncle! The aftermath is not pretty. My whole right leg looks like I was hit by a car. When people see it, their eyes pop out and they hold their breath for a second. Kris just laughs at me and my sister squealed with crazy amazement. I'm trying to figure out how I can post some pictures without showing too much of my glute because you would never believe it until you saw it. Really, though, the pain was only temporary and the bruises don't hurt. I'm having a lot more relief than from the e-stim, so much so, that I went back today and I'm typing this with a puffy leg and glute. A lot of professional athletes use this so it must be good, right? Plus, I kind of come from the school of it hurts, it must be working. I'm really learning about a lot of random stuff during this marathon training.