Active Release Technique
What is active release technique?
Active Release Technique, commonly referred to as “ART” for short, combines manipulation and movement to treat your body’s tissues. It involves identifying and isolating affected areas to break up scar tissue. This treatment increases blood flow and promotes faster healing of soft tissue injuries. It can be used to treat pain involving muscles, ligaments, tendons, and nerves. Athletes of all types depend on ART for quick recovery after intense workouts and competitions.
What body parts are treated?
We incorporate the use of ART to address pain and other symptoms caused by injury or damage to fascia, muscle groups, and tendons/ligaments.
Fascia is a fibrous connective tissue that protects muscles throughout the body. Inflammation across a band of fascia can feel painful and stiff. A common example of a condition involving fascia tissue is one you may have heard of before — it’s called plantar fasciitis. And we’ve had much success in helping patients overcome the discomfort of this painful foot problem.
We also implement ART with strains and pulls in major muscle groups caused by overuse or trauma. The most common region that we use ART is within the neck and shoulders (a frequent source of stress), as well as the back and hamstrings.
Tendons connect bone to muscle. Ligaments connect bones to bones. Whenever a patient injures these types of tissues, they experience decreased range of motion, pain, and inflammation. So ART is often used for tendon and ligament conditions as well.
How active release technique works:
The way ART works is by breaking up dense collections of scar tissue known as adhesions. These form whenever muscles and connective tissue are injured. When adhesions develop, they’re found between layers of muscle. This limits your flexibility and causes an achy stiffness that’s felt within your muscles and joints.
Sometimes these adhesions can entrap a nerve. Safely moving the soft tissues with ART can break apart these adhesions, thereby allowing nerves to move freely again.
Signs you may have adhesions :
You may benefit from Active Release Technique if you have any of the following:
Muscle stiffness in your neck, back, hands, elbow, or knees
Exercise causes an increase in pain
Decreased strength
Joint inflammation
Sharp pain in the bottom of your foot (usually near the heel)
Tingling, numbness, or weakness into the hands or feet
Limited range of motion or reduction in flexibility
ART treatment goals:
A successful ART treatment session will break up adhesions, improve range of motion, and reduce pain. Breaking up this collection of scar tissue enables muscles and joints to move freely again. This eliminates pain and stiffness.
Benefits of Active Release Technique:
Increased flexibility and range of motion
Improvement with chronic neck and back pain
Improvement with symptoms of sciatica
Relief of tension headaches
Management of carpal tunnel syndrome
Reduction of shin splints
Reduction of plantar fasciitis symptoms
Reduction of tennis elbow pain