Active Release Techniques (A.R.T.)

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?
Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways:

• acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc)
• accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
• not getting enough 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.

A.R.T. involves the dissolution of scar tissue. By breaking up the scar tissue located in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons; healthy tissue can regenerate.

Every A.R.T. session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The A.R.T. provider uses their 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 – over 500 specific moves – are unique to A.R.T. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient.

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Chiropractic Care

Your spinal column, made up of 24 independent vertebrae, is what allows your body to move, twist, and bend through every motion of your busy day. It also encases and helps protect the delicate central nervous system that controls and coordinates every muscle, tissue and organ of the body. This is why we believe the first step to an active lifestyle is a properly functioning spine.

When two or more vertebrae aren't functioning together properly, it is what many chiropractors refer to as a subluxation or a misalignment. These subluxations are actually joint dysfunctions that can cause you to experience pain, discomfort, decreased mobility, or many other symptoms and conditions. Joint dysfunctions often go unnoticed and can cause miscommunication between your brain and body.

Joint Dysfunctions in the spine may eventually lead to symptoms in other parts or joints of the body as well. These symptoms are your body’s only way of letting you know something is wrong. Unfortunately, the absence of pain is not an indication of health. By the time pain and symptoms appear the problem may have been present for months, even years. The great news is that you can help prevent these types of symptoms and conditions with routine chiropractic care.

Graston

Graston is a therapeutic method for diagnosing and treating disorders of the skeletal muscles and related connective tissue. The method employs a collection of six stainless steel tools of particular shape and size, which are used by practitioners to palpate patients’ bodies in order to detect and resolve adhesions in the muscles and tendons.

Electrical Muscle Stimulation

Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) is the elicitation of muscle contraction using electric impulses. The impulses are generated by a device and delivered through electrodes on the skin in direct proximity to the muscles to be stimulated.
The benefits of electrical muscle stimulation include:
    Relaxation of muscle spasms
    Prevention of retardation of disuse atrophy
    Increasing local blood circulation
    Muscle re-education
    Maintaining or increasing range of motion