Vitality Blog

Active Release Technique

Active Release Technique (ART) is back at the Vitality Clinic! Dr. Lucas Tisshaw is a certified Active Release Technique Chiropractor serving Downtown Vancouver and Yaletown.

Active Release Techniques is an extremely effective, movement based massage technique used by chiropractors who are certified in it to treat overused, tight, or damaged muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia, and nerves. Particularly sought out by athletes, from NFL football players to Ironman competitors to professional dancers, ART is the gold standard in soft tissue treatment techniques.

Tissues throughout the body can be easily damaged by acute trauma, such as a tear or a pull, or through an overuse or repetitive injury, such as sitting and typing for hours or throwing a ball with your kids. Scar tissue builds up and creates adhesions, leading to short, tight, and stiff muscles, or more serious discomfort from nerve entrapments. Scar tissue build up also leads to groups of muscles sticking together, further shortening muscles which produces weakness, pain, and abnormal movement patterns.

ART chiropractors are trained use their hands to evaluate the texture, tightness, and movement of soft tissues, and then treat the abnormal tissues by combining precisely directed tension with very specific movements. Muscles are placed under tension by the practitioner and then lengthened through active movement by the patient. This combination softens, stretches, and removes adhesions resulting in a decrease in symptoms, regain strength, and an increase in range of motion. There are over 500 specific protocols unique to ART, which provides the practitioner the ability to concoct the perfect combination of techniques to be used in each individual treatment. Active Release Technique is different than other forms of soft tissue therapy in that it incorporates the best of movement, stretching, and pressure points.

Every patient responds differently to ART; some heal faster, while others can have short lived soreness post-treatment. Everyone has different tolerance during treatment sessions, and it is the practitioner’s job to treat every case individually to ensure that the comfort level is within patient threshold.

If you run, walk, play on a team, ride your bike, dragon boat in False Creek, sit at a desk, or have scar tissue build up from surgery, call us to setup a complementary consultation with Dr. Tisshaw to discuss how Active Release Technique can start helping you today!

Dr. Lucas Tisshaw
Vancouver Chiropractor and ART Provider

• Posted: January 22, 2015
• |  by: Dr. Crysta Serne
• |  Categories: Vitality Blog
• |  Tags: ART,  Chiropractor,  Joints,  Muscle