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Overuse injuries are by and far the most common sports injury that athletes encounter during training. Although pushing yourself to the limit is the standard when you’re trying to win gold medals, overexertion can be a huge roadblock when trying to achieve your goals.
The good news is that more and more medical techniques are being developed particularly for sports injuries. Active Release Technique or ART, for example, was created specifically to treat the damages associated with overuse. This includes conditions like tennis elbow, shoulder pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, knee problems, and so much more.
In fact, ART is one of the fastest growing treatment methods in sports rehab today.
But what exactly is ART? How does it work and what does it do? What are the benefits of Active Release Technique for treating sports injuries?
On this article, we’ll be looking at the 5 benefits you can get from Active Release Techniques.
What is Active Release Technique?
ART is a newly developed method that treats the soft tissue system through certain massage targets in the body’s muscles, tendons, and nerves. It focuses on preventing scar tissues from forming by breaking them up. These dense scar tissues are called adhesions.
Injured athletes may find themselves unable to move properly—and that’s because adhesions limit the normal range of motion in the joints and muscles.
With the ART, a chiropractor or therapist determines the tightness, texture, and movement of the target areas such as the joints and muscles. They can then treat the abnormal tissue formations through precision targeting and specific movements. The process allows the blood to flow naturally, accelerating the body’s healing capabilities.
5 Benefits of Active Release Technique
1. It Reduces Pain all over your Body
It goes without saying that getting injured is a painful experience. But athletes basically injure their bodies every time they train, so that their bodies can get stronger through muscle development. However, overuse can lead to chronic pain in different areas of the body. It can lead to lower back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, and other forms of discomfort.
ART helps lower symptoms of lower back pain and other similar symptoms by reducing adhesions. ART is all about releasing compressed nerves and breaking up scar tissue.
Its natural pain relieving effect is achieved without the use of drugs such as prescription painkillers. It is also a safe and non-invasive treatment method for even the most painful sports injuries. On top of that, it can also help relieve headaches.
2. It Treats Joint Conditions
While reducing pain in the body, ART also treats certain conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome limits hand mobility because of pain and swelling. By cleaning out scar tissue and adhesions, carpal tunnel syndrome and its effects can be treated, as well as other joint conditions.
With the help of a chiropractor or a therapist, the problems in an athlete’s soft tissue and muscles can be corrected right away.
3. It Restores Your Range of Motion
For athletes, their range of motion is vital to their performance whether they’re on the court, or out in the field, or just at the gym. Injuries can limit their movement, and so their performance suffers.
Research shows that ART treatments can help improve a person’s range of motion, as well as their mobility. Since ART targets the joints and reduces adhesions, it can quickly get an athlete back into shape. And because athletes can’t afford to be away from the gym for too long, ART is convenient as it offers rapid results and accelerated natural healing through muscle targeting.
4. It Increases Your Flexibility
Gymnasts aren’t the only ones that need to be flexible. A person’s flexibility can add to their agility, making them a more formidable threat for their opponents. ART can help relax the muscles by reducing these tough adhesions in the hamstrings, the legs, and other major muscle groups.
Overall, an athlete’s performance can be improved through ART.
5. It Helps You Prevent More Injuries
ART promotes faster muscle recovery. By reducing the tightening in the joints and muscles, the athlete becomes less prone to accidents like slips and falls. This will benefit them in the long run because it means they won’t have any downtime at all.
If you’re an athlete looking for a better way to speed up your recovery, talk to your chiropractor or physical therapist about ART today!
