ART Therapy in Orange CA

What is ART Treatment?

ART is a movement based massage system, which is extremely effective for accurately defining the condition and effectively treating repetitive strain injuries and strain/sprain type injuries. This technique is performed by licensed medical professionals who have completed the post-graduate training courses and passed rigorous written and practical examinations. ART is one of the only medical techniques in North America with a federal process patent, so only certified ART practitioners are permitted to say they do the technique. ART Corporate Solutions, LLC only employs the highest level ART Providers in the US and Canada to carry out services.

Dr. Michael Leahy of Colorado Springs, CO developed ART, over 17 years ago. He has developed a symptom pattern system to insure that the ART providers can accurately define the soft tissue condition and select the appropriate treatment protocols. Dr. Leahy has written 4 comprehensive manuals, produced 12 educational videos and teaches 4 different hands-on ART courses to educate medical professionals throughout the world.

ART treatment is very different from any other soft tissue technique in that it is a complete system. First the provider defines the problem. Second there is a provider's hands-on evaluation via palpation. During this portion the provider is searching for abnormalities in tissue texture, movement and function, and he is seeing if he can reproduce the symptoms. Once the cause of the pain is found then the provider follows a series of hands on treatment protocols to break up the scar tissue, which has caused muscles to adhere together and/or to entrap a nerve. The treatments involve a very unique hands-on touch (tension to tissue) along with precise movements performed by the employee and the provider.

ART is very effective for the treatment of carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, rotator cuff, hand conditions (numbness/tingling), sciatic nerve, sprain/strains of the neck, low back conditions, shin splints, soft tissue ankle and many foot conditions.

Although ART and Massage Therapy work extremely well together as adjunctive therapies, massage therapy, by itself does not effectively address issues related to scar tissue. Deep Tissue Massage (e.g. Rolfing) uses a kneading motion or DEEP PRESSURE to try to SMASH the adhesion. ART uses a lighter pressure while generating more tension onto the scar tissue. This creates a lot more FRICTION to TEAR the adhesion.

Scar tissue adhesion is very resilient - it is very, very difficult to break up by 'crushing' it. It is about like trying to break up a piece of bubble gum by stepping on it repeatedly - it is just too elastic, resilient, and sticky. Only by generating tremendous amounts of tension can the adhesion be effectively and permanently removed.

ART differs from deep tissue massage in it that it uses friction and tension to tear the adhesion away, rather than to just smash it. While deep tissue techniques such as Rolfing can bring temporary relief to adhesion-related problems, ART will bring permanent resolution to adhesions.

Because ART uses much less pressure, and a lot more tension, there is less likelihood of damaging healthy tissue. Rolfing and aggressive deep tissue massage can quite often damage healthy tissue, and lead to internal bleeding and hence MORE ADHESION.

Most soft tissue techniques also DO NOT follow the entire length of the soft tissue structure NOR do they identify restrictions at different depths and levels of the tissue. ART aims to return complete translation and motion to the FULL LENGTH of the affected soft tissue and its adjacent structures. This means COMPLETE freedom of motion for the ENTIRE restricted structure in relationship to ALL adjacent structures!!

ART is NOT Physical Therapy / Physiotherapy!

Physical therapy involves Manual Therapies, Therapeutic exercises and the application of electro-physical modalities. Although these are valuable procedures offered at our office (which are integral in injury stabilization and prevention of future flare-ups), they DO NOT address nor resolve the underlying problems caused by scar tissue.

In the chronic stages of soft tissue damage which involves decreased blood flow to the injured area, a further increase in scar tissue formation is seen due to decreased oxygen to the tissue(s) and increased fibroblastic activity. Simple stretching and exercises at this point will not be very effective. Only when enough of this scar tissue is broken down can a strengthening program begin. Otherwise the cumulative injury cycle keeps perpetuating, causing the fibrotic tissues to get shorter and weaker with more and more scar tissue laying down over time. This is the reason why many rehabilitation programs (situation dependent) fail or are very limited in their efficacy.