Successful treatment of a guitarist with a finger joint injury using instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization: a case report

Abstract

Finger injuries are common and can greatly affect a musician's quality of life. A 55-year-old man, who had injured the proximal interphalangeal joint of the left index finger 6 months prior to any intervention, was treated with a manual therapy approach incorporating instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM). Initial examination findings included self-reported pain and functional limitations and physical impairments that significantly impeded his ability to play the acoustic guitar. He was treated once a week for 6 weeks with IASTM, joint mobilization, therapeutic exercise, and ice massage. Additionally, a home exercise program and self-care instructions were provided. The patient gained positive outcomes with improvements in pain (Numerical Pain Rating Scale while playing the guitar: initial 5/10, discharge 1/10) and function (Disability Arm Shoulder Hand Sports-Performing Arts Optional Module: initial 75; discharge 6.25), each reaching a minimum clinically important difference. Importantly, he was able to play the guitar with minimal to no pain as desired. Physical measures also improved, including an immediate gain in finger range of motion with IASTM alone. Manual therapy approaches integrating IASTM may provide an effective conservative treatment strategy for patients with finger/hand conditions in the performing arts and other patient populations.

Impact of Exercises and Chair Massage on Musculoskeletal Pain of Young Musicians

“…Scientific research confirms the need to implement the prophylaxis of musculoskeletal diseases among musicians [ 15 , 17 , 18 , 30 , 31 ]. There are various programs and trainings aimed at preventing musicians’ PRMD [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]; however, according to the authors of the study, creating a prevention program for young musicians should first of all take into account the nature of strains, the specificity of work and the location of complaints. The aim of the research was to compare the effectiveness of two methods of prophylaxis that meet the above criteria.…”

A Force Sensing Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization Device

“…In a case study by Loghmani [17], of a 55-year-old man who had injured the proximal interphalangeal joint of the left indexfinger, physical measures were improved, including an immediate gain in finger range of motion with IASTM alone. However, it was seen that manual therapy approaches integrating IASTM could provide an effective conservative treatment strategy for patients with finger-hand conditions in the performing arts and other patient populations.…”

Development of In-Vitro and In-Vivo Devices to Study the Mechanobiology of Ligament Healing

“…This study has limitations. First, while the load range for the device is appropriate for many in-vivo research studies [40,41,52] and clinical studies of small joints [28], groups that want to apply loads greater than 10N would need to insert a different force sensor and conduct performance tests to determine device accuracy at higher force thresholds. Second, the hand-held device only measures normal force and would require a tri-axial force sensor to capture both normal and transverse force components [68].…”

“…Manual therapies are less constrained by cost and regulatory oversight and are used by 36 million people in the United States each year [26]. Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization is a manual therapy technique that has shown to be effective at reducing pain and accelerating healing in ligament injuries [27,28].…”

“…In case studies IASTM has been shown to improve function and reduce pain for people with shoulder, Achilles tendon, and patellar tendinopathy [35][36][37], chronic ankle pain [38], chronic finger pain [28], and lower body muscle strains [39]. In animal studies, IASTM has been shown to accelerate the rate of tissue healing [27], increase the total number, recruitment and activation of fibroblasts in the injured tissue [40,41] and increase the number of tissue-resident mesenchymal stem cells in the arterial ad-ventitia and micro-vessels of the injured tissue by threefold [42].…”