A quasi-experimental study on the effects of instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization on mechanosensitive neurons.
Weiqing Ge, Emily Roth, Alyssa Sansone
PMID 28533604WHAT IT FOUND
After 10 minutes of instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization on healthy thigh skin, people needed a wider gap to feel two skin points, while pain threshold and thigh size did not change.
This does not show a clinical benefit.
Key findings
01After 10 minutes of IASTM, mean two-point discrimination distance increased from 40.2 mm to 44.9 mm, and the paper reports this change as significant.
02Mean pain threshold changed from 18.2 lb to 18.7 lb after IASTM, and the paper reports no significant change.
03Mean mid-thigh circumference changed from 53.4 cm to 53.2 cm after IASTM, and the paper reports no significant change.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study had no control group, randomization, or masking, so the before-and-after changes cannot be separated from time, expectation, or measurement effects. All participants were young, healthy university volunteers recruited by convenience sampling, so the results do not show what happens in patients with pain or soft tissue disorders. Only one 10-minute IASTM session to the front thigh was tested, using one GT1 instrument, so it says nothing about repeated treatment, other body regions, other instruments, or clinical outcomes. The paper does not report dropouts and states that body weight and height were not collected. The significant change was in two-point discrimination distance, and the paper does not explain whether that change has clinical meaning for patients.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that IASTM reduces pain or breaks down soft tissue. The study found no significant change in pain threshold or mid-thigh circumference, and it tested only healthy volunteers in a single 10-minute session with no control group.