Many people experience tension in their soft tissues and turn to healthcare professionals for help obtaining relief. These professionals often use Active Release Technique (ART). When is it appropriate, and what should a person know if this treatment method is offered?
What is Active Release Technique?
When a medical professional mention active release technique, many people don’t know what they are referring to. This specialized technique releases the body’s soft tissues by identifying and mobilizing knots. The therapist focuses on the muscles and fascia throughout the body and mobilizes them with pressure and patient movement. Countless individuals obtain relief and can move freely without pain after a session. This technique also works on tendons and nerves.
Why Might ART Be Needed?
Overuse and repetitive trauma can lead to injuries to muscles, fascia, tendons, and nerves. When injured, the person experiences pain and finds it difficult to move. Adhesions may develop if the fascia and tissue bind to neighboring structures. The provider identifies these areas and uses pressure points and movement to restore mobility.
Conditions That Can Be Treated With ART
Healthcare providers typically use ART to treat soft tissue injuries. Shoulder, knee, and hip pain respond well to this technique, and the provider may use it for a person with iliotibial band syndrome. Shin splints and plantar fasciitis respond well to active release technique, and ART may help address surgical scars. Anyone with sciatica, back, or neck pain knows how this discomfort can interfere with daily activities. ART may relieve the tension and allow them to move freely again.
The Benefits of Active Release Technique
Following treatment with ART, individuals experience less pain and increased functional mobility. Their flexibility improves, and they have less tissue tension. Joint range of motion increases, and muscular inhibition is less of an issue. In addition to addressing the pain, the provider works to break up adhesions to improve the patient’s range of motion. Research suggests people with low back pain obtain more relief with ART than with myofascial release.
What Does a Treatment Session Look Like?
When a person visits a physical therapist, chiropractor, massage therapist, or other healthcare professional for soft tissue pain, the provider might recommend ART. Before doing so, they assess the patient and gather information about the pain. The patient then sits or lies down, making it easier for the provider to reach the affected area.
The provider identifies areas of tissue tension using their hands and tries to free tight or impaired areas on the body using pressure. If this pressure is too much, the patient should alert the provider so they can adjust. As the provider applies this pressure, they ask the patient to move in different directions. Doing so while they are applying pressure will move the underlying tissue in the desired direction. This combination of movement and pressure frees the tissue from painful adhesions.
Each session lasts 15 to 30 minutes. The provider also gives the patient exercises to do, ensuring they retain any gains they made during the session.
Anyone experiencing soft tissue pain should ask their doctor about active release technique. This non-invasive treatment benefits countless men and women struggling with soft tissue limitations and adhesions. It releases tissue limitations through pressure and movement so the patient can move freely again without pain and live a higher quality of life.
