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by Ryan Wippler MD
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:
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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 tendonitis, 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 in a "orthoneuro"
examination 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. The precise tension applied
looks intense and the specific stretching movements can be quite painful, but the
results outweigh these momentary discomforts. Basically, the
therapist puts a moderately firm tension over a muscle (tendon, nerve,
etc.) and moves and stretches the patient through the whole range of
motion for that muscle (tendon, nerve, etc.) so that as it slides under
the pressure point friction is created thus freeing up any adhesions. Patients may
dramatically
improve after the first treatment. Full treatment
courses averages 3-6 sessions on alternating days. If the patient
hasn't improved after the 6th visit, a reevaluation is made and
appropriate changes in treatment are initiated.
ART is not a cookie-cutter approach. These treatment protocols, over 500
specific "orthoneuro" moves that are both diagnostic and therapeutic, are unique to
ART. They allow providers to simultaneously identify and correct the specific problems
that are affecting each individual patient. |
