What separates Active Release Techniques from other therapies?
ART is NOT deep tissue massage therapy Although ART and Massage Therapy work extremely well together as adjunctive therapies, massage therapy, by itself, does not effectively deal with scar tissue. Deep tissue massage uses a kneading motion or deep pressure to try to smash the adhesion which can be very painful. ART uses a lighter pressure while generating more tension onto the scar tissue. This creates a lot more friction to tear the adhesion, is much less painful, and has longer lasting results. Scar tissue adhesion is very resilient – it is very, very difficult to break up by ‘smashing’ 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. 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 level
