The Active Release Technique (also known as ART) is an advanced massage technique specifically designed to massage the muscles and muscle attachments, tendons, and fascia surrounding the muscles to release and relieve tension in these areas. It can relieve “overuse” problems like carpal syndrome, shoulder pain, shin splints, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow. All of these problems occur due to overuse and can be cured with his specific massage therapy technique, called the Active Release Technique.

When overused, it can lead to nerve entrapment, muscle sticking, inflammation and scar tissue, carpal tunnel and impingement syndrome, among many other problems. This is because overuse leads to injury or other situations where tissue detrimentally changes in three important ways.

· Firstly, the tissue itself does not receive enough oxygen, a condition also called “hypoxia”.

· Second, there may be an accumulation of small tears, also called microtrauma.

· And thirdly, this can cause acute conditions, such as pulls, tears and collisions.

No matter the cause, what happens is that these three types of changes cause the body to heal by producing dense, tough scar tissue in the injured area, which replaces healthy tissue. The scar tissue itself then binds the surrounding tissues together, so that they can no longer move freely. As more scar tissue accumulates, the muscles themselves can shorten and become weak. Scar tissue is not as strong and stable as healthy tissue, so an advanced massage therapist is needed to help break up muscle adhesions and scar tissue.

Without treatment, this strains the tendons, which in turn leads to tendinitis, and the nerves can become “caught”. This in turn can cause pain, loss of strength, and reduced range of motion. In some cases, when a nerve becomes trapped, you may also feel numbness, tingling, or weakness.

A massage therapist using these ART techniques can help clients with these muscle adhesions and scar tissue. [http://think-diagonal.com/2008/03/04/massage-therapy-techniques-for-scar-tissue-removal/] accumulate, which restrict proper muscle function. When one receives ART treatment, a therapist first assesses the sensation, stiffness, and texture of underlying tissues, such as fascia, muscles, tendons, nerves, and ligaments. The therapist then provides specific advanced massage therapy techniques along with ART techniques.

This type of treatment is effective because a trained therapist can break up the scar tissue that causes nerve entrapment, reduce the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, nerve impingement, or muscle adhesions. The therapist directs very specific tension at the affected area, usually focusing on or around the muscle attachments, and the patient works together with the therapist by moving in specific ways to help break up the scar tissue.

There are over 500 different movements specifically in ART that are meant to break up scar tissue, muscle tension, and trapped nerves. For example, with carpal tunnel syndrome, the median nerve becomes trapped in scar tissue (also known as “nerve entrapment”), which has been caused by repetitive motion, poor diet, or many other factors that cause inflammation. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome also known as “cumulative injury,” because the injury itself (in this case, median nerve entrapment) occurs over a period of time. In many cases, ART can reduce or eliminate the need for surgery to correct these problems and restore function.

Impingement syndrome can also be relieved with ART.

Another type of injury, impingement syndrome, occurs when heavy lifters experience pain in the shoulder area. Most of the time, taking care of this problem involves having surgery to shave a small part of the rotator cuff and flatten it, making sure there is nothing to “catch” the muscle or muscle adhesion. However, in most cases, the problem is in the muscle itself and not the rotator cuff, so ART can cure this problem if the problem is occurring in the muscle and not the rotator cuff. rotators. This determination must be carefully identified before any massage therapy or ART treatment is implemented. Be sure to look for a professional massage therapist who is certified in ART techniques and has a very firm knowledge of human anatomy.