Astym Works to Heal Carpal Tunnel

Hey all.
I've been reading this forum (i just joined) and I feel compelled to post about my experience with cts and a treatment called astym.

I am a writer and a pianist, and I developed horrendous carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists. I went through the usual round of therapy: ice, rest (hard when you make your living typing,) massage, ultrasound, iontophoresis, and finally, cortisone shots.

Nothing worked. (i know, i'm probably preaching to the choir here!)

my physical therapist had recently gotten certified in a new treatment called astym. She recommended it to me and I tried it and it worked. I'm not kidding here at all. Astym got rid of my cts.

Basically, astym is a form of augmented soft-tissue manipulation provided by a pt. The other part of it are designed-just-for-you stretches and strengthening exercises. I was really rigorous about both stretching and doing my exercises. It took about 12 sessions to just about completely resolve all of my symptoms. And my insurance paid for it, once I got a prescription from my doc for astym.

In the interest of full disclosure: astym was pretty painful the first two of three sessions. I could feel and hear all my scar tissue being broken up underneath my skin, and my wrists were sore afterwards, but sore like I could handle, not sore like the cts, if you know what I mean. I could tell a big difference after just two weeks (four treatments.) after eight treatments I was crying because my wrists hardly hurt anymore. After the full round of treatments, it seemed like the big jump of healing tapered off for a while, but about three months after astym, I was working at the computer and I stopped and realized my wrists and arms didn't hurt. At all. I cried again.

Re-reading this post, I realize I sound pretty intense. But I feel that people have to know about astym. It gave me my life back.
If you want to check it out or find a pt who offers the pt near you, go to astym.Com

and good luck with your cts. It sucks.