ASTYM System - Has Anyone Had This Type of Treatment?

I had ASTYM done on my knee over a year ago and still can not recover from this treatment. Do not have this treatment, you have much better chance for recovery without it. Once it was done and went wrong, you are not going to get much help from anybody, including doctors and physical therapists.

I tore my achilles tendon earlier this year and basically "sucked it up" for a couple of months before the pain was so bad I could hardly walk. My doctor sent me to a PT who has been performing the ASTYM procedure to break up the scar tissue and calcium deposits around the injury. The first couple of times were INTENSE, so intense that I found myself holding my breath as the instruments were going over my lower leg. My calf was black and blue a few hours after and that wasn't even where the injury was. I am still going 2x a week for therapy and it does still hurt during the procedure but I can tell that it is working. The big knot that I once had on my achilles is beginning to shrink and now I think of it as a "good kind of hurt" because after the treatment I can actually feel that something good is happening. I don't know if it is the increased blood flow to the area or what, but the pain has been worth it. I should also say that I have been doing strengthening exercises at home along with ultrasound therapy, heat therapy, and electrode therapy at the PT office.

I had bursitis in the hip for years. Ultrasound, cortisone, massage, heat, nothing worked. Rest helped a little but that made arthritis worse. The orthopedic physician wanted to do surgery, but I persuaded him to let me try physical therapy again. This PT suggested ASTYM. My hip was black and blue afterwards but I began to have relief by the third treatment. After 6 I was pain free. Delighted, I asked for a referral for my shoulder. I had surgery some 20 years ago and had adhesians and could not have full range of the arm. The PT worked mostly on the chest muscles. Result: 15% greater range of motion. I am very pleased. I give out pamphlets at my health club, to my masseuse, and to all my friends.

I can't say enough good things about ASTYM, I had all but given up and thought the rest of my life would be spent in bed and on medications. I had been in a multiple rear-end accident, and my back was completely trashed, so that any doctor couldn't do anything about it. A friend said to me, I know you have seen many doctors already but please try this one more doctor. He prescribed a physical therapist for me that used ASTYM, it was intense and very painful, I even had huge bruises the next day, but two days afterward I was loose for the first time able to do things I couldn't do before. After three months I could do the exercises at physical therapy, then after six months I was able to cut my meds in half, and six months later I cut them in half again, I was doing exercises at PT just like everyone else. I had ASTYM treatments every other visit and it got less and less painful. I have told everyone I know with back problems to go in and try this (at that time) relatively new procedure. If you are the type of person that forms a great deal of scar tissue, or keyloids, when you have an injury then you need to get rid of the scar tissue in order to get use back. It is so great, and it gave me my life back. I was, very disappointed to find how many people almost seem to enjoy staying in pain and soaking in the attention, but soon that attention turns to resentment, so it is better to Empower yourself and do your best. Remember, it's not that you fall, it's how graceful you get up, you show the world, and your kids or other family, that if their is a solution to grab it and give it your all, you owe it to yourself, you're worth it.

I have had about 6 treatments and each has been extremely painful and I haven't had any appreciable improvement and in-fact have had more pain. I am wondering why some people don't seem to have much discomfort and see improvement rather quickly. When do they determine that more diagnostic work-up needs to be done if the patient is not improving?

I had this treatment yesterday for golfer's elbow. It was so painful I almost fainted(and I don't consider myself a pansy). Today my elbow and upper arm are very bruised and sore. I am more sore than before the treatment. I am seriously considering not returning for the second session and am online researching this treatment. When I asked the PT where she went for training and what was involved - she answered she had taken a 1 week course. Since this treatment is so painful and intense, I am seriously wondering if a one week course is enough training to learn this technique. In my case I am thinking maybe my elbow should have been more pain-free before such an deep massage was initiated. Since what I have read the treatments can take from 6 - 12 visits, I would have like to have started more slowly. The treatment may have merit - but it may also be doing more harm than good.

hi...i'm considering getting astym for my left elbow (tennis elbow)...was curious what did you receive treatment for...are you still receiving treatment...?....if there's anyone else who has received treatment....sure would appreciate any feelback....thanks....

Hi! I've had 1 astym treatment for hamstring scar tissue. This has caused back pain that I did not have ? before. I know hamstring problems can agravate the back.But this is spine pain. More like a nerve. Is this normal?
Thanks!