What is A.R.T.?
Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with A.R.T. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles.
It is a combination of movement and massage used to break down scar tissue, generate increases in functional muscle length and release fascial adhesions.
Those knots are the result of tough dense scar tissue in the muscles that are produced when the body attempts to heal. This scar tissue restricts the mobility of muscles, and eventually the affected muscles become shorter and weaker, increasing the tension on surrounding tendons.
What does it do?
Active Release Technique (ART®) is a patented manual soft tissue treatment that is effective for a broad range of soft tissue injuries for which most conventional treatments (physical therapy, massage, medication, surgery, and chiropractic) have failed. The goal of Active Release Technique® is to restore optimal texture, motion, and function to soft tissue and release any entrapped nerves or blood vessels.
This is accomplished through the removal of adhesions or fibrosis in the soft tissues by using specific A.R.T® techniques. Adhesions can occur as a result of acute injury, repetitive motion, or constant pressure or tension. A.R.T® eliminates the pain and dysfunction associated with these adhesions.
Diagnosis & Treatment of Soft-Tissue Injuries
ART® is unique because of the strong sense of touch the practitioner develops when learning the 500+ treatment protocols. These treatment protocols combine the use of pressure, tension, and motion to force the layers of muscle and tissue to work together properly. ART® is successful when other traditional methods fail because ART® practitioners locate the root cause of the problem. An experienced practitioner can successfully resolve many soft tissue conditions within 6-10 treatments. Advanced practitioners are trained in biomechanical analysis and understand exactly how injuries affect the biomechanics of the patient. ART® practitioners consider the body to be one complete, dynamic, functional unit; they do not restrict their attention and treatment to just the area of complaint.
ART® is not a magic bullet or cure-all. It is non-invasive, very safe, has virtually no side effects, and has a record of producing excellent results. Treatments can feel uncomfortable as scar tissue or adhesion break up. Patients report this as “hurts so good.” This discomfort is temporary and subsides almost immediately after treatment. It is common to feel a duplication of symptoms during the treatment. This is a good indication that the problem has been identified.
We use ART® to treat a broad range of soft tissue cumulative injuries, including:
- Arthritis
- Achilles tendinitis
- Ankle injuries
- Back pain
- Bicipital tendinitis
- Bunions
- Bursitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Compartment syndrome (chronic)
- De Quervains’s tenosynovitis
- Dupuytren’s contracture
- Frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis
- Foot pain/injury
- Gait imbalances
- Thoracic outlet syndrome
- Throwing injuries
- TMJ
- Golfers/Tennis elbow (tendinitis)
- Golf injuries
- Hammer toes
- Hand injuries
- Headaches
- Hip pain
- Iliotibial band syndrome
- Impingement syndrome
- Knee pain
- Leg injuries
- Muscle pulls or strains
- Muscle weakness
- Sport injuries
- Swimmer’s shoulder
- Tendinitis & Tennis elbow
- Myofasciitis
- Neck pain
- Nerve entrapment syndrome
- Athletic Performance care
- Plantar fasciitis
- Post surgical
- Repetitive strain injuries
- Rib pain
- Joint dysfunction
- Knee meniscus injuries
- Rotator cuff syndrome
- Running injuries
- Scar tissue formation
- Sciatica
- Shin splints
- Shoulder pain
- Weightlifting injuries
- Whiplash
- Wrist injuries
These cumulative soft-tissue injuries are injuries to the muscles, tendons, bones, blood vessels, fascia and/or nerves.
It is helpful to understand that cumulative injury results from acute injury, repetitive injury, or constant pressure/tension injury, all of which lead to what we term as the cumulative-injury cycle. It is the existence of the cumulative injury cycle that separates these from other injuries of the neuromusculo-skeletal system. Left uncorrected, they can lead to inflammation, adhesion/fibrosis, weak and tense tissues, and decreased circulation, all in a progression called the cumulative injury cycle.
