What is Active Release Technique (ART) and how can it help you?

Amy Parkerson-Mitchell, MSPT is full body certified in ART and recently completed advanced ART training for long tract nerves. In her 20+ years of experience treating endurance athletes and non-athletes she finds that treatment and prevention of injury is most successful with a thorough physical therapy evaluation of biomechanics to determine the cause of the problem and a combination of ART* with functional exercises to treat it.

Most of us are familiar with physical therapy and functional exercise, but what is ART? ART stands for Active Release Techniques. It is a highly effective and sought after treatment for muscles, fascia, nerves, ligaments and tendons especially in overuse syndromes with a success rate of up to 90%. It is a preferred treatment by Ironman athletes, many professional sports teams (basketball, hockey, and football) including our beloved KC Chiefs. MMA fighters, numerous olympic medalists, and the dancers in Dancing with the Stars all receive relief from ART treatment. 

ART isn't just for professional athletes and dancers. It benefits anyone who participates in repetitive activity including recreational athletes, weekend warriors and non-athletes. Repetitive activity resulting from work, hobby or sport leads to micro-tearing of muscles. The body responds to these tears by laying down scar tissue which is not as good as the original. It is not as supple or strong. It lays down every which a way often times snarling up with other structures such as nerves, fascia and other muscles. This can lead to pain and dysfunction. Full body certified ART providers use over 300 different protocols to free the tissues from one another and improve the integrity of the tissues. 

Follow up that newly freed tissue with progressive, functionally specific exercises that Amy determines best addresses your biomechanical restrictions for maximum success in performance and wellness. 

*Amy incorporates joint mobilization with ART if needed.