Active Release Technique

ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique 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 are often a result of overused muscles.

How do overuse conditions 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 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 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.

What is the history of Active Release Techniques?
ART has been developed, refined, and patented by P. Michael Leahy, DC, CCSP. Dr. Leahy noticed that his patients' symptoms seemed to be related to changes in their soft tissue that could be felt by hand. By observing how muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves responded to different types of work, Dr. Leahy was able to consistently resolve over 90% of his patients' problems. He now teaches and certifies health care providers all over the world to use ART.

Manipulation/Adjustment

To understand the adjustment we first must understand what happens with joints when they become exposed to repetitive use, trauma, poor posture and poor nutrition. Bones rarely "move out of place" or "press against a nerve". Rather the soft tissue structures (ligaments, tendon, muscles, nerves and vessels) that surround joints can become irritated via faulty motor patterns (movement) that alter the biomechanics of a specific joint complex. This altered movement pattern, if allowed go uncorrected, can lead to the release of chemical factors ("inflammatory soup") that stimulate pain producing nerves and send a signal to the brain giving us the sensation of pain. Pain is NOT NORMAL but rather our bodies innate way of letting us know that something in our bodies needs attention NOW. Pain is often one of the last symptoms to appear and indicates the underlying problem is more complex.

An adjustment, or manipulation, will help in many ways but 3 are of most importance for your understanding. The adjustment will:

• 1. Restore proper motion to the joint. This will allow for nutrient flow and a decrease in inflammatory soup.
• 2. Increase joint motion receptor activity. This shuts off the pain producing receptors.
• 3. Creates a window of opportunity for functional retraining. This will help you to regain proper coordination between the muscles and the brain.

A manipulation is a safe and effective method for restoring proper motion to joints and reducing pain producing inflammatory mediators. This technique involves the application of a short, gentle thrust to restore proper joint motion. Occasionally a light "cracking" or "popping" sound accompanies this technique which is merely the release of nitrogen gas from within the joint.

Kinesio-Taping

There is a new treatment available for the aches and pains of daily living. Lance Armstrong, the seven-time winner of the Tour de France, has called it his “miracle tape”! Developed by Dr. Kenzo Kase nearly 25 years ago in Japan, Kinesio Taping has become the gold standard for therapeutic rehabilitative taping. The Kinesio Taping Method involves taping over and around muscles in order to assist and give support or to prevent over-contraction. KT is suitable for patients of every age or condition. It is extremely versatile in its ability to re-educate the neuromuscular system, promote lymphatic flow, reduce pain, enhance performance, prevent injury, and promote injury resolution. Correctional techniques include mechanical, lymphatic, ligament / tendon, fascia, space, and functional. The method and tape allow the individual to receive the therapeutic benefits 24 hours per day because it can be worn for several days per application.

Functional Rehabilitation

Functional rehabilitation incorporates clinical lifestyle recommendations, manual treatments, and functional exercises with the goal of correcting faulty motor patterns and increasing strength and endurance of tissue so you can do the things you love most in life. The doctors take their approach to corrective exercise seriously as many times this is the key to correcting faulty movement patterns and preventing further dysfunction. Therapy begins with identifying faulty movement patterns often resulting from poor posture, improper lifting mechanics, athletic training errors or injury. We will spend time with each patient identifying aggravating activities in their current situation and spend time modifying those activities through movement corrections. Rather than give you a laundry list of new exercises to perform at home, we will modify what you are already doing in such a way that it will eliminate the pain generating factor while improving your strength and endurance.

Dr Todd and Dr Paul have spent numerous post-graduate hours pursing the most up to date and current research involving rehabilitation. They have travelled across the U.S. and worked side by side with some of the best specialists from Europe and the states to learn how to properly identify and correct biomechanical dysfunctions. Dr Todd is currently finishing up his diplomate in Rehabilitation.