What is Active Release Technique (ART)?
ART is a patented, state-of-the-art soft tissue system that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. 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 ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they often result from injury to over-used muscles.


How do overuse injuries occur?
Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways:

  • Acute injuries (pulls, tears, collisions, etc),
  • Accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
  • Not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia).

Each of these factors can cause your body to produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue binds up and ties down tissues that need to move freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonosis, and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness.

What is an ART treatment like?
Every ART session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements.

These treatment protocols - over 500 specific moves - are unique to ART. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART is not a cookie-cutter approach. Providers are required at attend annual update seminars to maintain their credentials and keep current of any new protocols and research.

Treatment is non-invasive, very safe, has virtually no side-effects and has a record for producing very good results. Treatments can feel uncomfortable during the movement phases as the scar tissues or adhesions break up. This discomfort is temporary and subsides almost immediately after treatment. Treatments take about eight to fifteen minutes for each area treated and may require two to ten visits.


Who can benefit from ART?
The types of conditions successfully treated by ART are very diverse. Some of the more common conditions are:

  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other peripheral nerve entrapments
  • Spinal pain and dysfunction
  • Tendinopathies and other soft tissue disorders of the hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle and foot.
  • Sciatica, TMJ, recurrent sprains and strains.

   

Only a certified ART provider can ascertain whether ART might prove beneficial for your condition. Often times the build up of scar tissue adhesions will cause noticeable symptoms like pain and weakness. However, long before symptoms are felt, athletic performance is affected.