What is Active Release Techniques (ART) to Individuals, Athletes, and Patients?
ART is a manual therapy used to evaluate and treat soft tissue injury. Tendons, ligaments, nerves and muscles work together and form a network of layers in the body called the musculoskeletal system. When these soft tissues are damaged or overused, they will often form scar tissue, adhesions, or fibrosis. As a result, muscles will shorten and lose strength, strained tendons can cause tendonitis, and nerves can become “stuck”.
Some symptoms of soft tissue damage include loss of strength, pain or soreness, reduced range of motion, numbness, and tingling. Active Release breaks up scar tissue, adhesions, and fibrosis in these soft tissues to help them relax and function properly. Dr. Pham uses ART to target and relieve tension in specific muscles and tissues.
ART has proven extremely effective in treating the cumulative trauma of conditions including:
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Upper back and neck pain
- Rotator cuff tear and tendonitis
- Golf and tennis elbow
- Low back and hip pain
- Shin splints
- Runner’s Knee
- IT band syndrome
- Chronic ankle sprains
- Headache/ Migraine
How Active Release Technique works:
Active Release Techniques bridges the gap in conventional medicine between injury and rehabilitation, treating the injured tissue and facilitating its resolution while rehab is in progress.
Too often with soft- tissue injuries, treatment is ignored and rehab is begun while tissue is still functionally impaired leading to disappointing results. Depending upon how long ago an injury has occurred the soft tissue will have undergone a series of palpable textural changes that rehab alone cannot address. ART through a series of manual manipulations specifically designed to help our bodies remodel scar tissue, can reverse these changes, releasing adhesions and restoring tissue to a supple, functional state.
With Active Release Techniques, we concentrate on working within the limits of tissue and patient tolerance. There may be some discomfort during treatment, and possibly a little muscle soreness afterwards. This soreness should fade within 24 to 36 hours. The only other things patients typically experience are relief. Often patients notice a change in their pain patterns and an increased range of motion after the first few visits.
To maximize therapeutic benefits we pair Active Release Techniques with appropriate stretches and strengthening exercises, devising a progressive rehab program for each patient to keep adhesions released and to promote full recovery.
