ART Facts
All Athletes and Weekend Warriors Have One Thing In Common… Soft Tissue Injuries
Sports, work, and recreational activity all have the potential to wear us down over time. Any injury to the body results in the production of inelastic scar tissue. This is how the body repairs itself. This scar tissue can change the function of the muscles, which can affect other muscles and joint function, range of motion, strength, and agility.
Young athletes and workers tend to ignore their minor injuries, aches and pains thinking that they recover quickly from their pain. Over time the wear down from these injuries catches up with us, usually manifesting with more severe pain and limitations of activities, especially less than optimal sports performance.
How do overuse injuries occur?
Overused muscles (and other traumatized soft tissues) can cause changes to your body in three important ways:
- Cause acute injuries (pulls, tears, collisions, etc.).
- Accumulate small tears (micro-trauma).
- Reduce oxygen flow to cells (hypoxia).
All three are part of the cumulative injury cycle. Soft tissue structures in the body change or adapt with time. These changes are predictable and can be felt by the doctor. Chronic “older” injuries actually feel different from acute or recent ones.
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Each of these changes causes 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.
- Nerves can become trapped.
This can result in reduced ranges of motion, loss of strength, and pain. With trapped nerves, you may also feel tingling, numbness, shooting pains, burning sensations, weakness, muscle atrophy and circulatory changes.
"Although a decrease in muscle control may be initiated in the presence of pain and/or tissue injury, it appears to be sustained beyond the acute pain phase and may contribute to the chronicity of muscle and joint pain syndromes." Jull, 2005
Active Release Techniques® The gold standard for soft tissue treatment
Active Release Techniques® has been proven to be highly effective in the treatment of soft tissue injuries for athletes both professional and recreational. Ninety percent of the time athletes with acute or long-standing muscular sprain/ strain injuries experience complete recovery- usually in a very short period of time.
Active Release Techniques Vs. Other Treatments
What ART® Is NOT
People often confuse Active Release Techniques® with Mattes Active Isolated Stretching and Myofascial Release. Myofascial release is simply an umbrella term used to define any number of manual therapy techniques used to release myofascial structures ( muscle tissue and the shrink wrap around and in between muscle fibers).
These techniques are not as SPECIFIC, EFFECTIVE , or as FAST ACTING as ART®. Active Isolated Stretching is a very effective method of stretching developed by Aaron Mattes and is utilized by many athletes, athletic trainers, strength coaches, and physical therapists. This stretching technique is made much more effective after ART® has been used to effectively release soft tissue adhesions. Once free of adhesions, the problem areas in muscles are much more receptive to stretching.
What to expect in an ART treatment?
Every ART session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tension, movement and function of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements.
There are some 500 protocols for ART® and they are unique and the technique is patented. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each area.
Whenever possible the protocols involve patient active motion during the treatment process. Active motions stimulate neurological pathways in the spinal cord that help to reduce pain during treatment. Active motion also helps to reproduce the stresses the patient will actually be under during normal active motion.
Specific diagnosis and specific treatment allow for effective treatment
Strength, speed and endurance are expected to improve within the first few treatments. We will often have our patients test these factors after two or three visits. If no improvement is seen, we know that either we have not found the source of the problem, or the area affected needs to be strengthened further.
Active Release Techniques® is non-invasive, very safe, has virtually no side effects, and has a record of producing very good results. When a soft tissue problem has resolved the symptoms will not return unless the injury happens again. To avoid future injuries we instruct our patients in specific exercises, give postural recommendations and explain to our patients the mechanism of injury so that it may be avoided in the future.
How does an ART® treatment feel?
Most patients describe a "hurts good" feeling during treatment. This means that the symptoms are often reproduced during treatment. This is a sign that your problem has been properly identified. Next day soreness is expected, similar to the soreness you feel after a workout or exercise.
How long are the treatments and how many treatments does it take?
Initial examinations usually last between 30 minutes and up to one hour. After your problem has been diagnosed, most treatments last 15-30 minutes. The span of treatments varies from 2-20 visits to resolve most conditions, with the average treatment plan being 8-10 visits for most of the common sports and soft tissue injuries.
Get Out of Pain and Back In The Game With ART®
Soft tissue injuries that limit optimal sports performance are frustrating and can limit or shorten athletic careers or recreational sporting activities. ART® has helped many athletes, both professional and recreational to overcome these injuries and return to sport at the highest levels.
No medical treatment, physical therapy exercise, stretching, or ice will effectively release and break up scar tissue in the muscles. These treatments are essential to reducing pain and aiding recovery, but they are not all inclusive.
A Note To Parents Of Young Athletes
Young athletes are not exempt from the injuries that older athletes endure. In fact because their bones are not fully developed until between the ages of 17 and 22, growth plates can be adversely affected by shortened muscles.
Think about any nagging injuries or performance limitations you are currently experiencing. If we treat these injuries early before they become chronic, we can prevent the premature end of a sports career and return your young athlete to play at a high level.
The good news is that young athletes respond very quickly to ART; most cases resolving within 4-6 treatments.
ART® Is A Vital Part Of Any Treatment Plan For Soft Tissue And Sports Injuries
Just like many athletes have several coaches helping them, athletes and weekend warriors need several health care providers helping them as well. Each individual should have a team consisting of 1.) A team coach for their sport 2.) A strength coach and/or Athletic Trainer 3.) A medical doctor who specializes in sports medicine and 4.) A Chiropractor/ Physical Therapist who is a certified ART® provider. Get the best care you can by incorporating all these people into your team of Human Performance specialists.
A Quick Note On Surgery
There are times when surgery is necessary. ART® is essential to the overall success of the surgical procedure. Pre-surgical treatments can begin to clear up soft tissue areas that are not functioning properly and may have contributed to the injury in the first place. Post surgically ART® is vital to aiding release of scar tissue and quick recovery of normal muscle function. This aids in the rehabilitation process.
If an athlete has had surgery, physical therapy and has not made a complete recovery, it may be time to try ART®.
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