Active Release (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.
Tissues of the body become injured in one of 3 ways:
- Acute injury (pull, tear, collision, etc.)
- Accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
- Lack of oxygen (hypoxia)
Each of these factors can cause your body to produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue adheres to the tissue and restricts it from moving freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker. This can cause and increase in tension on the muscle tendon causing tendonitis as well as nerve entrapment.
This process can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. Nerves that become entrapped in scar tissue can cause numbness, tingling and weakness.
ART treatment will identify the affected tissue. As a patient, you will be asked to move certain parts of your body, while pressure is applied to the area being treated. It is the active movement by the patient that makes this technique so effective. Every different movement of a joint produces a specific movement of the muscles and tendons that surround that joint. This is how the practitioner is able to identify the exact tissue involved, and treat it accordingly.
