Active Release Techniques®, also known as ART®,
is one of the treatments Dr. Seals uses to help patients get out of pain
and improve their ability to perform their work or sports activities.

ART® - for Soft Tissue Injury

What types of conditions can be treated successfully with active release technique?

The list is long, but here are some of the most common conditions for which we see excellent results, using active release technique:

• Headache
• TMJ
• Back and neck pain
• Upper back pain
• Shoulder pain
• Rotator cuff tendonitis
• Arm pain
• Tennis elbow
• Carpal tunnel
• Hip pain
• Low back pain
• Sciatica
• Leg pain
• IT band pain
• Knee problems
• Shin splints
• Achilles tendonitis
• Ankle tendonitis
• Plantar fasciitis

How will I know if active release technique is the right treatment for me?

If your complaint is related to a soft tissue injury, i.e. muscle, tendon, fascia, or trapped nerve, then active release technique will be an effective treatment for you. Some symptoms of soft tissue injury are:

• Restricted range of motion
• Muscle weakness
• Joint dysfunction
• Pinched nerve pain, numbness or tingling.

With extensive experience in soft tissue injury treatment over thirty years, Dr. Seals has developed a very advanced ‘feel’ for the tissues and their texture, tension and movement. He evaluates the movement of each tissue relative to the one next to it, and with a thorough knowledge of biomechanics, is able to correct your specific problem.

Soft Tissue Injury Evaluation

Dr. Seals begins all patient sessions with an evaluation of the problem you’re presenting. His approach is straight forward and in the almost thirty years he’s been evaluating patient concerns he’ll tell you:

If I can help you, I’ll tell you,
and
if I can’t help you, I’ll tell you that too!”

A full body Active Release Technique® provider, Dr. Seals is certified in:

• Upper extremity
• Lower extremity
• Spine
• Nerve entrapment

and works with patients who incur soft tissue injury in work, home and sports environments:

• Pain and dysfunction built up over time from an old injury
• New injury, or injury built up from repetitive strain, in a work environment
• New injury experienced by weekend warriors
• Sports injury
• Sports performance improvement

About Active Release Technique®

Here is a list of frequently asked questions about ART®:

What causes joint pain to ‘just show up’ over time?

Most pain we see today is brought about by a combination of muscle imbalance and joint dysfunction. How does this happen?

Many of our routine activities, are done one-sided, i.e. we use our dominant hand, our dominant hand-eye co-ordination, and we lean into our activity from the same direction every time.

Or, the activity we do overuses a particular set of muscles, and underuses another set, that were designed to counterbalance and support each other.

Or, we do a repetitive motion over and over for hours on end and cause repetitive strain on the soft tissue.

This causes abnormal wear and tear within the joint, abnormal pulling of the soft tissue – muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joint capsules – which causes scar tissue to develop. This, in turn, causes the soft tissues to bind up, showing up over time as a pinched nerve. Long after the problem began, you then notice the pain.

Dr. Seals performs active release treatments to break up the scar tissue or adhesions and free the pinched nerve. Addressing the soft tissue injury is just the first step. The next step is for you, the patient, to correct the muscle imbalance so the injury does not recur. Dr. Seals will recommend ways for you to improve your biomechanics to better support the problem area.

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Can active release technique relieve back pain and sciatica?

Often, the cause of back pain or sciatica is muscle imbalance. It is usually not just a single event that caused the problem. For example, a patient may say “All I did was bend over to pick up a pencil!” To use an analogy, the event was just “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. The event was not the cause. The cause is incorrect biomechanics, which builds up soft tissue injury over time.

Dr. Seals’ extensive experience in biomechanics means he correctly identifies the cause of the back pain. The key to effective active release treatment is to identify the exact areas of adhesion in the soft tissue, and understand the specific range of motion to move the patient through, in order to break up the scar tissue that builds up amongst the complex muscle layers. Active release treatment allows the muscles and nerves to move freely once again. Restoring proper nerve and muscle movement allows the body to perform at its most effective level.

Dr. Seals may use both active release technique and chiropractic care, which is a very effective combination, to relieve back pain. He will also recommend exercises and postural adjustments to improve your ability to perform your daily work or sports activities.

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Can active release technique help with sports performance?

Although lay people are just discovering active release technique, it is already used widely throughout professional sports. Nearly all NFL, NHL, and NBA teams have an ART® provider for their players. Many Olympic medalists and team sports competitors use active release technique to enhance their performance, as well as to decrease pain from previous injury and overtraining. In fact, Active Release Techniques® is the official Ironman® soft tissue management partner.

Dr. Seals works with elite athletes in the fields of weight lifting, gymnastics, speed skating, skiing, pro football, and martial arts.

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Do active release treatments hurt?

Dr. Seals communicates with each patient to get feedback throughout the treatment and works according to your tolerance level. He starts the treatment with light pressure and progresses it so that you’ll get the maximum benefit from a treatment. A treatment can be fairly intense, but our patients report that they feel elated afterwards and are thrilled with the results.

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How does active release technique work?

Active release technique is a type of deep tissue therapy. Soft tissue injuries can occur either from an acute injury, or from repetitive strain over time. Scar tissue that develops, shortens and weakens the muscle. This can lead to a reduced range of motion, a loss of strength, tension on tendons, and possibly a pinched nerve which causes tingling, numbness or pain. An adhesion, which is basically like scar tissue that builds up between the muscle layers, can restrict the normal sliding motions of the various soft tissue layers.

Dr. Seals uses his hands to manually target the exact tissue that is injured or causing the problem, while you, the patient actively moves your muscles through a range of motion. In this way, the bound up areas are released and the soft tissues can function normally again.

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How soon can I expect to see results with active release technique?

Patients usually see significant results by the end of the first treatment. The number of treatments required will depend on the severity and length of time the condition has been a problem.

Dr. Seals will explain what is going on with the soft tissue injury, what you can do to help resolve it, and when it would be best to work active release on the injured area again. Generally you’ll see the improvement you are looking for within two to six visits.

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Can I learn to do active release technique to treat myself?

ART® is a patented set of protocols that is taught to healthcare providers who are licensed to treat soft tissue injury. The treatment protocols encompass over 500 specific moves, and there is no cookie-cutter approach. Even if you are a licensed Active Release Technique® provider you will not be able to treat yourself. ART® providers help each other out, in cases where they are injured.

However, there are things you can do to assist in recovery once your soft tissue injury has been treated. Dr. Seals may advise you on ways to improve your biomechanics. He may give you corrective exercises to help improve your condition and prevent muscular imbalance. He may also recommend ways to avoid doing certain movements incorrectly, which cause stress on the area.

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Additional Questions or Comments:

If you have a question about active release technique that you feel has not been answered here, please leave it in the space below. We’ll answer it as soon as possible. Visit this web page again soon to see our response. Your comments are also welcome.