If you have Blue Cross or Green Shield as your Extended Health Provider, we will now submit claims on your behalf.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the clinic to learn more about this service.

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

Winter is here and a large portion of the Lower Mainland population are raising their après drink classes in celebration of the local North Shore mountains, Grouse Mountain and Cypress Mountain, opening up some of the terrain for downhill skiing and snowboarding! Not only are the local mountains open, Whistler Blackcomb has opened up this past weekend and locals and internationals are a buzz in excitement for a hopefully long and prosperous mountain season. The speed and unpredictability of the mountain slopes can result in numerous aches, pains, and serious injuries for skiers and snowboarders. A fall onto any surface from powder to packed snow groomers can result in various areas of discomfort and stiffness. Neck and lower back strains, from mild to severe, are common complaints that can often be put to rest with a few chiropractic appointments. Other common areas that chiropractic and Active Release Therapy (ART) can help with are skiing injuries to the shoulder, thumb, knee, hip, and foot.

Here are a few tips to prevent injuries from occurring in the first place:

Foam rollers and stretching prior to and after hitting the slopes can be great to help loosen up the body but access to a roller and space to do it are not always practical. Grab a lacrosse, ball hockey, or tennis ball and try to dig into those gluts and hips as well as quad and hamstrings. Body weight squats and lunges are highly recommended prior to strapping into skis or a snowboard, as well as jumping down into a downward dog/upward dog routine with a few warrior poses for 3 minutes before hitting the slopes.

Some common winter sport complaints that chiropractic can help rehab and prevent:

Neck and Shoulder:
– whiplash
– cervical strain
– rotator cuff strain
– subacromial impingement
– stiffness between the shoulder blades

Back:
– muscle strains
– disc herniation
– pain with bending over (flexion intolerant low back pain)
– tailbone sensitivity (sacro-iliac joint dysfunction with ligament sprains)

Knee:
– hamstring strains
– meniscus sprain
– patellofemoral pain syndrome

Hip:
– pelvic rotational imbalance
– gluteal strains
– groin pulls
– hip flexor tightness

Wrist and Hand:
– Skiers thumb
– wrist sprain
– joint stiffness
– forearm strain and Tennis Elbow

Interested to find out how chiropractic can enhance your ski season this year by allowing you to spend more enjoyable and pain free days on and off the hill? I will gladly have an in-person or teleconference consultation to discuss how you can benefit from individual treatment plans of chiropractic and myofascial release. Contact us today at 604-687-7678 to discuss your health treatment options and to develop a prevention routine!

Have a great day on the slopes,
Dr. Lucas Tisshaw
Vancouver Chiropractor and ART Provider

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Stretching For the Slopes

Does rain deter you from going for a run? If it’s a torrential downpour, then I’m skipping the day and heading for the gym, but if it is a reasonable drizzle or showers, then a run in the rain can be a terrific outdoor experience. Here are some simple tips to help you get out that door:

1. Do your warm up indoors. You warm up, right? Donkey kicks, fire hydrants, glut bridges, and lunges are 4 simple and quick warmup exercises you should probably consider prior to running as these all will activate your gluteal muscles and your core cylinder, taking stress of the knees and low back. Do them inside in your living room before heading out in the rain!

2. Wear a hat. Simple. Keep those pesky misty raindrops out of your eyes as we don’t want to be focusing on squinting and keeping our sight lines open.

3. Dress in layers. Don’t wear too much clothing to try to keep dry or you will end up overheating and sweating more than usual. Find the right rain shell for you or skip it completely and embrace that you are going to get wet.

4. Put your iPod in a plastic bag. Throw in your credit card to stop for a warm drink after!

5. Have a warm snack at home waiting for your arrival. A homemade soup or chili is perfect for a post run bite.

*we also advocate wearing proper attire (unlike the reallyy great picture to the right. )

Have a great day,
Dr. Lucas Tisshaw
Vancouver Chiropractor and ART Provider