We are proud to be the first Active Release Technique-Ironman certified practice in Australia. The ART Ironman logo is a sign of our dedication to providing outstanding clinical service through continued education in the field of soft tissue injury management.

Active Release Techniques or A.R.T. as it is known is a hands-on therapy which aims to break down scar tissue or tissue adhesion in sites of soft-tissue restriction. These restrictions can be found in muscle, tendon, ligament, fascia and surrounding nerves. They can produce classic syndromes such headaches, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, ITB syndrome, back pain, shoulder rotator cuff syndrome, tennis elbow and more.

Classically these areas can become damaged through one of four major pathways.
1. direct injury – such as tearing of muscle fibres or impact based trauma
2. hypoxia – insufficient oxygen to muscle, causing resultant activation of fibroblastic cells (scar tissue producing cells). A good example of this is a muscle used in a repetitively shortened position such as the shoulder/neck muscles used to move a computer mouse. Here the muscle is chronically contracted keeping blood out of the tissue and the fibroblasts produce scar tissue. The body thinks its incurred injury even when it hasn’t
3. friction – muscles should slide against other tissues, structures, nerves etc. Inhibition of this movement will contribute to progressive tissue adhesion
4. microtrauma – accumulation of small muscle tears over time

A.R.T. is different to massage therapy, physiotherapy, and chiropractic care. It is a patented technique and is therefore unlike any therapy you have been treated with previously. It can benefit anyone from the athlete, to the office worker, factory worker and the not so athletic.

There are over 500 individual protocols unique to the A.R.T. treatment making it easily one of the most effective and thorough treatment modalities available for the treatment of soft tissue injury and movement restriction. We combine it with other treatments such as manipulation, Graston-Hall method and others to provide optimal treatment outcomes.

Each A.R.T treatment is actually a combination of assessment and treatment. A combined evaluation of the tissues texture, tension, movement, strength and function enables us to identify areas of ‘abnormal’ tissue. The treatment involves the application of a hands-on directed tension along the area combined with specific active movement through normal range of motion of the selected tissue. This effectively ‘cleans out’ tissue adhesion, restoring ‘normal’ movement.

The treatment can be slightly painful if there is significant injury. If the scar tissue is quite dense it will require some force to break it down. However most patient usually report it to feel like “good pain” and can actually feel the return to full movement happening while being treated.

Now if your not injured but feeling like something is tight, not moving effectively or is starting to give a niggle here and there, then ART ‘Performance Care’ can provide a preventative solution to these problems and even improve your athletic performance. For example with triathletes, we assess how you run, bike and swim to determine which muscle are hindering your performance and technique. Combining this assessment with ART treatment protocols a rapid return to optimal performance level can be achieved. In fact the real positive of ART is its ability to quickly and efficiently locate the source of the underlying cause of many of these problems long before you feel symptoms.