Active Release Technique

Active release technique (ART) treats your body’s soft tissue by combining manipulation and movement. ART works by breaking up adhesions, which are dense collections of scar tissue that form when muscles and connective tissues are injured. When a muscle, tendon, or ligament is injured, the body forms adhesions. These adhesions connect and bind injured tissue. Unfortunately, that same adhesions often sticks to surrounding structures. If a nerve runs through a muscle in the spot where there is an adhesion, the nerve can be pinched or pulled, causing it to fire pain signals-leading to numbness, tingling, and painful loss of mobility. The resulting limited motion causes the body to compensate by overworking other healthy tissue, also leading to pain. Although the body can sometimes adapt to, and tolerate a certain amount of adhesions, it will not function optimally and can cause further injury. These adhesions require treatment because the body has no mechanism to reduce it naturally. Unlike other treatment methods, the patient is frequently an active participant in ART. The patient moves the affected area through a full range of motion while the therapist applies manual force along the adhered tissue. The goal of ART is to break up the adhesions and restore your range of motion and improve your pain. By breaking up adhesions, muscles and joints are able to glide and move freely again without pain and stiffness. ART can be combined with other types of massage and rehabilitative exercises, to achieve optimal function and improve overall performance. ART offers many benefits for anyone who has pain and other symptoms caused by soft tissue injuries either from sports, overuse, or trauma. I often incorporate ART into my sports treatment and therapeutic sessions, its is a great tool for decreasing adhesions to have in my toolbox.