Specific Conditions:
Arm Numbness?
Do your arms burn, tingle, or feel numb? Do they ache or cramp after long hours of use? Do you wake up with your fingers and hands feeling stiff and sore? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be suffering from a repetitive strain injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome. These types of injuries are common when individuals perform tasks repetitively over an extended period of time. This includes professions such as computer operators, cashiers, construction workers, dentists and dental technicians/hygenists, weight lifters, to name a few.
These repeated movements will cause chronic irritation to the soft tissues ie nerves, muscles, ligaments, fascia and tendons. This irritation creates friction and pressure, which eventually leads to small tears within soft tissue. These in turn cause inflammation, decreased circulation and swelling which can progress to restrictions forming in the soft tissues. Restrictions inhibit the soft tissues from moving properly causing pain, discomfort, numbness and weakness.
When traditional treatments fail, a new soft tissue technique called Active Release Technique (ART) was designed to target these areas of irritation and restriction and release them. This is usually accomplished in 6-8 treatment visits. Once the restrictions have been eliminated and the inflammation reduced, appropriate home stretching and strengthening exercises become affective to prevent the injury from progressing.
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is a very common problem. Recent American studies have shown that it affects at least 70 million people and is the leading cost of medical care in America. Chronic pain can affect any part of the body, can range from mild to severe and can even affect the person's mood and ability to function.
Some kinds of chronic pain have numerous causes: Back pain, for example, may be traceable to years of poor posture; to improper lifting and carrying of heavy objects; to being overweight, which puts excess strain on the back and knees; to a congenital condition such as curvature of the spine; to traumatic injury; to wearing high heels; to sleeping on a poor mattress; or to no obvious physical cause.
Normally, pain serves as a warning that something is wrong with our body. Pain is registered in a certain body part that is injured (ie a strained/pulled muscle), and nerves send signals from that body part to your spinal cord and up into the brain. Once the body has healed from the injury, the nerves stop sending signals and the pain goes away. However, in those individuals with chronic pain, the nerves sending the signals can be irritated (due to an inflammatory process) and continue to send pain signals resulting in chronic pain. This is evident with soft tissue injuries. When a soft tissue is injured, it becomes irritated and consequently inflamed. The body then responds to this inflammation by laying down scar tissue in an attempt to stabilize the area. Once this happens, the integrity of the tissue is compromised, decreasing its strength, reducing blood and oxygen flow causing further irritation and inflammation. This in turn causes an increase in the pain signals sent by the nerves which can lead to a pattern of pain and discomfort lasting more than three months.
Traditional treatments for this type of condition generally include pain medication and anti-inflammatories to manage the irritation and inflammation. Unfortunately, these methods can have unpleasant side effects and little success. Currently, a new and advanced sports injury treatment called Active Release Technique (ART) can affectively reduce the scar tissue within an injured soft tissue reducing the inflammation, increasing strength, blood and oxygen flow. This allows the nervous system to function normally again and decrease the pain signals. This is a quick and easy process involving carefully orchestrated movements between the doctor and patient on the exact location of the scar tissue. ART provides quick results; usually after one treatment the patient will experience a general "loosening" of the area. Additionally, 8-12 treatments are sufficient to minimize the pain and rehabilitate the area.