What is Active Release Technique (A.R.T)

What is A.R.T.

Active Release Technique or ART is the gold standard of soft tissue treatment for sports injuries. Injured muscles, ligament, fascia, tendons and nerves all respond extremely well with Active Release Technique treatment. What separates ART treatment from conventional massage or muscle work, is the precise directed tension and the very specific movement to ensure the smooth movement of tissue, the directed breaking up of scar tissue and the ability restore function with minimal treatment time. There are over 500 protocols for treating every muscle, tendon, ligament, fascia and nerve in the body. Active Release Technique is so specific and powerful that it is the only soft tissue therapy that is patented.

Why should you RECEIVE A.R.T. Care

With Active Release Technique, the whole structure (of muscle, tendon, ligament, nerve or fascia) can be treated instead of a particular section. It is the active motion, directed pressure, and specificity of treatment of the muscle that allows the practitioner to break up the adhesion. But what is an “adhesion” anyway? An adhesion is fibrous tissue that develops from a small tear in the muscle, tendon or ligament. Some people may call this “scar tissue” as well. How does it get there in the first place?

An adhesion can develop 3 ways:

• Acute injury (trauma)

• Overuse (repetitive motion injury)

• Constant pressure/tension for an extended periods (poor posture)

The adhesion, or scar tissue, should be reduced for many reasons. Adhesion’s limit blood flow to the structure, shorten the muscle and decreases the function of the structure. This can cause pain, weakness and sometimes numbness if the adhesion is putting pressure on a nerve.