Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › General › Beginner IASTM Tool Recommendation

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    • 04/07/2015 at 1:09 pm #71324
      AvatarScott Mackaben
      Participant

      I’m quite interested in trying IASTM after Kaitlin recommended Hawkgrips in relation to a shoulder issue of mine a few weeks ago. The cost of hawkgrips for me is prohibitive, so I found a couple of other possible options at the links below. I’d really appreciate any advice on which you recommend – they both work out about the same price wise, so it comes down to a choice between stainless steel or polycarbonate.

      One important thing – the chances are that I will be needing to use a tool on myself, initially at least. So if that would mean I’d be wasting my money, then I’d appreciate that input as well
      Here are the tools:


      Just to add – obviously I’m not expecting to be able to use a tool over my own shoulder, but my general mobility could do with all the help it can get, so any areas that I can reach with such a tool, I’d like to try.
    • 04/08/2015 at 11:12 pm #75918
      AvatarNathan Richer
      Participant

      wow hawkgrips are cool! looks like they copied graston pretty thoroughly. i thought graston patented their tool shapes.

      my favorite IASTM tools are: http://www.myo-bar.com
      i love the long myofascia bar and myofascia bar AP. 
      however, for a single hand scraping tool, it was a hard search. some of myo-bar’s products worked ok but i felt they were too small.
      i finally shelled out cash for a Zuka Tools scraper- the Zuka-3: http://www.zukatools.com
      the reason i shelled out for it is because i wanted the edge to be sharper. blunt edges work ok but not as good as sharper, thinner edges with a sharper angle.
      they are still pricey. 
      i had some plastic ones which worked OK. can’t remember the brand. i also found some traditional chinese gua-sha tools and tried some of theirs made from jade, animal horn, or similar. but i think that stainless steel is much better overall.
      stainless steel allows you to use the weight of the tool to your advantage, and the steel transmits vibrations of you hitting a knot or irregularities in the tissue better. other materials don’t seem to work as well.
      i would definitely get treated by a graston expert before trying it on yourself. you learn a lot by watching them work and how they apply the tool, as well as when to stop. you could definitely create more problems by scraping too long and too much.
      having said all the above, once i got into MWOD, i found that i really don’t need those tools any more. i still see my Graston/chiro and she treats me with Graston but i have found that MWOD mobs are more than good enough to deal with my problems nowadays.
    • 04/09/2015 at 9:58 am #75919
      AvatarScott Mackaben
      Participant

      Hi David,

      Many thanks for such a detailed and helpful reply!
      Very useful advice there – I have contacted a couple of local practitioners, and will speak to them before arranging an appointment with one. Then as you suggest, I can learn how it works, what to do and what to avoid, and get a feel for what tools might suit me.
      And it may even turn out that I simply get my existing issues corrected before being able to look after myself with mwod mobs.
      Thanks again for the info – very much appreciated!
    • 04/09/2015 at 10:50 am #75921
      AvatarNathan Richer
      Participant

      BTW if you *really* want to be cheap, some of us have used kitchen utensils, like spoons, and gone to the hardware store for a large crescent wrench to use the handle on our quads.  you just need a big metal thing to be able to scrape yourself. you don’t need no fancy way too expensive tool to try it on yourself!

      Rogue sells the mobility star http://www.roguefitness.com/mobility-star which looks to be of good shape – not too pricey at $65. i didn’t get one so don’t know how sharp the angle is on the edge. but one good thing about these kinds of tools are the ones with circles cut out of them. when your hands are all slippery from cream to lubricate your skin and you’re trying to hold firmly onto a tool, a hole or cutout is great for maintaining a grip on it with slippery hands.
    • 04/10/2015 at 4:05 am #75922
      AvatarScott Mackaben
      Participant

      Ha, yes I saw the recent daily vid where a spoon was used on the forearm, and tried that myself. So I think I’ll go for a couple of sessions with a specialist and see – but good to know there are so many options out there, and not all of them costing $4k!

    • 04/16/2015 at 5:47 am #75938
      AvatarScott Mackaben
      Participant

      Just wanted to update this for anyone interested – I had a first session yesterday with a local practitioner, and definitely saw some good results on shoulder rotation. We also found some other very lumpy areas that need work, so I’ll have at least another couple of sessions and then decide if and what to buy.

      But I highly recommend the treatment – it’s great!
    • 02/17/2016 at 11:43 pm #76303
      AvatarRob Labuschagne
      Participant

      I’m not exactly unbiased, but I wanted to weigh in with another option. The cost of IASTM sets was mentioned in the original post, and most of the replies. Myometal sets are well made, stainless steel tools, and each set is considerably less than the other sets mentioned in this post.

      Three tool sets, with a case included, are only $300 at http://www.myometal.com.

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