An adhesion is scar tissue or unhealthy fascia. Fascia is the connective tissue, or protein structure, that connects parts of the body together essentially creating a flexible skeleton. When fascia is healthy (no adhesions) it allows the joints, muscles, nerves, blood vessels and organs within the body to move freely and function properly. However, when adhesions attach to muscles, nerves and lymph, it decreases their ability to function properly. Some signs that you have an adhesion on a nerve may include abnormal sensations like numbness, tingling, or pain.

While stretching does play a pivotal role in treating and preventing injuries, it cannot break down adhesions. Adhesions are much stronger than normal healthy tissue and can often cause muscles to bind to one another limiting their ability to function normally. Stretching only lengthens the healthy tissue, not the adhered tissue, and unfortunately this can actually lead to additional adhesions. Stretching, when done properly, is still very important in order to prevent further injury, but it will never release the adhesions that are already present.

Overused muscles typically change in three ways: acute conditions such as pulls and tears; accumulation of small tears, also known as micro-trauma, and lack of oxygen (hypoxia). Any of these three factors can cause your body to produce scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue restricts healthy tissues that need to move freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons cause tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. These conditions can cause limited range of motion, loss of strength, and pain.

Stretching and exercising is only effective after the unhealthy tissue or adhesions have been corrected. Stretching and exercising dysfunctional tissue will lead to negative results and potentially further complications. The best solution is to determine the origin of the problem, treat the problem, then implement stretching and behavioral modifications that will lead to long term results.

There are many differences between ART and massage in respect to both technique and results. Although there are many different styles of massage, they all generally promote relaxation and increased circulation in a passive setting. Passive modalities typically cannot fix range of motion problems. Whereas. treatments that require active range of motion (movement) to help to fix and restore normal movement patterns.

Every ART treatment session varies but uses a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider will evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Any abnormalities are then treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements. ART treatment is very specific to each individual and injury.

Although each individual body and injury respond differently to treatment, most patients recover from their injuries in an average of 5 visits.

ART is a specific treatment that involves numerous and continual hours of study and experience to perform properly. As a certified ART provider, the practitioner must re-certify his or her knowledge and skill on a yearly basis. If a practitioner is not properly certified in ART the patient is not receiving the ART quality they are expecting.