Active Release Techniques® (ART®)

Active Release Techniques® (ART®) is a diagnostic and treatment for muscle injuries, especially injuries from overuse. All Rose therapists are certified to provide ART® therapy, and Rose is an official ART | Ironman® partner clinic asscoaited with the World Triathlon Coporation. Along with McKenzie®, Maitland® and Graston Tehcniques®, Rose uses ART® as a foundation for diagnostic therapy.

What is ART?

ART® treats soft-tissues such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. The technique can benefit everything from headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles.

How do overuse symptoms occur?

Over-used muscles and other soft tissues change in three 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. In addition, if a nerve is trapped by these injuries you can also feel a tingling, numbness, or weakness.

What is ART® physical therapy 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 highly specific moves - are unique to ART® certified therapists. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART® is not a cookie-cutter approach and is tailored to each patient.

What conditions can be treated by ART therapy?

• Carpal Tunnel
• Peripheral Nerve Entrapment
• Frozen Shoulder/Rotator Cuff Syndrome
• Golfer’s/Tennis Elbow
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Neck or Back Pain/Injury
• Runner’s Knee
• Headaches
• Running Injury
• Shin Splints
• Sciatica
• TMJ
• Iliotibial Band Syndrome
• Muscle Pulls and Strains

Just a note: there are a number of clinics in the DMV who advertise ART® but are not currently certified to practice it. This leads to confusion because it is not clear whether the therapists understand current cutting edge practices with ART®. HERE is the official list of certified professionals.