|
Active Release Therapy
(A.R.T.®) is a new approach in
treating injuries to muscles, tendons, nerves and surrounding soft
tissues. ART is a highly successful treatment not only
for athletes, but also for anyone who leads an active life, sits at
a computer all day, or enjoys gardening. Many daily
activities cause repetitive stress and the formation of scar
tissue, which hinders the movement and function of soft tissues
(muscles, ligaments, tendons and nerves). This creates symptoms of
pain, stiffness, decreased range of motion, numbness and weakness.
ARTis safe, very effective and usually very quick to
show results.
In today's world, humans
are constantly pushing their bodies to the limit. Whether
working long hours, eating on the run, or just trying to keep up,
conditions are far harder on our bodies than ever before. As
our bodies try to keep up with this neck-breaking pace, our
internal maintenance crew often can only do quick patch-up jobs on
the damage we do to ourselves. When repairing muscles, tendons,
ligaments or even nerves, the body's quick fix solution is to lay
down scar tissue for the patch-up. Scar tissue is the crudest grade
of tissue that the body manufactures, and as you can see from old
cuts on your skin, it takes a long time to be replaced by tissue
that looks, feels or functions normally.
Scar tissue is a lot like
glue, sticking things together. This is very good when you
sprain your ankle, as this 'glue' holds the torn fibers together as
they heal over a couple of months. This is not very good when
the process goes overboard and starts gluing other parts of you
together. Think of normal muscle as a collection of rubber bands.
Injuries can tear just a few of the rubber bands (muscle
fibers). In that case, your body will use a staple to put the
rubber bands back together (scar tissue). Obviously, the part
of the rubber band with the staple in it won't be able to move
normally. Scar tissue keeps muscle from moving normally.
ART works to reduce the scar tissue build-up and restore
normal muscle function.
When muscles are glued to
other muscles, or a nerve is glued to a tendon, your body is no
longer working optimally. Pain, numbness, stiffness and
weakness are just some of the descriptions that people use for
problems caused by scar tissue gone bad. These conditions are
collectively called cumulative trauma disorders (CTD).
ART is unique in it's approach to healing, in that it
directly addresses this scar tissue that hinders your body's smooth
functioning.
←
BACK |
