At our office, A.R.T. plays a major role in how we treat patients. It’s an amazing, soft-tissue therapy (treating muscles) that tends to get results quickly with a vast majority of our patients. Dr. Shepard uses A.R.T. more often than any other treatment method, including chiropractic adjustments.
5 reasons why we love this innovative, soft-tissue therapy:
- Each A.R.T. session is both an examination and treatment in one. So the patient is constantly being re-evaluated to best meet his/her needs and to get the best results.
- There are over 500 different protocols for A.R.T. Which means there is no cookie cutter approach to treating a patient. And it also means that there are numerous protocols Dr. Shepard can utilize on each patient in order to get the most effective results.
- A.R.T. is an evidence based treatment. It has been researched and proven to be highly effective.
- We have seen results in many different types of patients – people suffering from pain, people with a lack of motion, and also athletes who are looking to improve their athletic performance.
- It has worked for many different types of conditions. We have seen results in people suffering from lower back pain, plantar fasciitis, TMJ, and many others.
For the best description of A.R.T. I went to the best source = the official A.R.T. website:
What is Active Release Techniques (ART) to Individuals, Athletes, and Patients?
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.
How do overuse conditions occur?Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways:
- acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc),
- accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
- not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia).
Each of these factors can cause 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, and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness.What is an ART treatment like?Every ART session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements.These treatment protocols – over 500 specific moves – are unique to ART. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART is not a cookie-cutter approach.