Dr. Sherman is proud to announce that he will be instructing Active Release Technique courses starting April 2016.
Active Release Technique (R)
The Gold Standard in Soft Tissue Treatment.
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?
Overused muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways:
- Acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc)
- Accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
- Lack of 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—more than 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.
What is the history of Active Release Techniques?
ART has been developed, refined and patented by P. Michael Leahy, DC, CCSP. Dr. Leahy noticed that his patients' symptoms seemed to be related to changes in their soft tissues that could be felt by hand. By observing how muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves responded to different types of work, Dr. Leahy was consistently able to resolve more than 90 percent of his patients' problems. He now teaches and certifies health care providers all over the world to use ART.
*Many thanks to the Active Release Technique for the material provided above.