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At Western New York Muscle and Joint Performance Chiropractic, we understand that when your muscles and joints perform better, you enjoy life more.

We treat our patients using a combination of chiropractic techniques, soft tissue treatments and exercises. This method helps us evaluate and correct pain issues more quickly and accurately than through chiropractic treatment alone – and ensures a healthier, more pain-free lifestyle for our patients.

Part 3: How does ART reduce scar tissue?

After understanding how scar tissue forms and what it can lead to, we can now focus on how to treat and reduce scar tissue.  There are two main methods of achieving this goal:

1.     Manually (using your hands)—such as ART®, which we will cover in this article. There are also other techniques that we will not discuss in this article (point 2 below).

2.     Instruments—there are many different instruments on the market today.  Two of the more popular instruments are Graston and Sound Assisted Soft Tissue Manipulation (SASTM).  Below is a picture of the SASTM instruments being applied to scar tissue in the forearm extensor muscles.

Instruments work best for scar tissue that is closer to the surface and wouldn’t work very well on deeper muscles.

Now lets get back to ART and how it works.  Read more

Part 2: How can scar tissue lead to pain?

Part 2 of 3 of Active Release Technique:

In part one, we covered how scar tissue can get into your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. But how can scar tissue lead to all of the following problems?

  • Neck pain
  • Low back pain
  • Disc injuries
  • Carpal tunnel
  • Tennis elbow
  • Golfers elbow
  • Headaches
  • Plantar Fasciitis

The cause is typically a joint that has an abnormal axis of rotation. The easiest way to visualize this is to look at the glenohumeral joint (shoulder). Read more

What is ART and why would it help me?

This will be a three part series that will explain everything you need to know about ART (Active Release Technique).

Part 1: How does scar tissue form?

Part 2: How can scar tissue lead to the pain that I have?

Part 3: How does ART get rid of scar tissue?

So let’s start off with:

Part 1: How does scar tissue form?

ART stands for Active Release Technique and is probably the most popular and sought after form of soft tissue treatment on the market today.  ART was developed by  P. Michael Leahy, DC, CCSP and it’s main purpose is to break down scar tissue that forms in muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Most people typically say, “I haven’t had an injury, so why would I have scar tissue?” Hopefully this next section will help clarify how and why scar tissue forms.

Read more