Since I am heading out of town tomorrow for a long/wedding weekend, I had to squeeze my Active Release Technique (ART) appointments into 3 days.
I just finished {Week 1} of ART and I’m feeling pretty good. I was able to run on Monday (doctor’s orders) – my 1st run in over a week. My foot hurt for the first 0.5 mile but after a couple of minutes, my foot loosened up and I was able to run for 30 minutes (Dr. B said no more than 35 minutes).
My treatment consists of 10-15 minutes of electrical stimulation (stem), followed by 10 minutes of ART. ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. It doesn’t always feel good, and sometimes it actually hurts, but I always walk out feeling better than when I went in. After each session, I have homework. This week I am working on bridges, with raised heels, and leg extensions. Can you picture that, if not – here you go (minus the ball in between my legs):
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| photo courtesy of www.fitsugar.com |
The treatment is fairly intense (and expensive): I go 3/week for 2 weeks, 2/week for 2 weeks. 1/week for 2 weeks and then hopefully (fingers crossed) I’m feeling good enough to go on a maintenance-only basis. Based on my first week of treatment, I am confident that Dr. B will have me running pain free within the next month (to 2 months).
Dr. B – I hope you are reading this because I want to get better sooner rather than later! {wink}
New follower…I will have to go back to read about your injury. I have done ART and I agree…kills when you are doing it but feels much better when you are done. Look forward to reading more posts!
ART saved my running life! I went from not being able to run .25 of a mile to running a marathon! Hope it helps you as much as it helped me!
I'm in my third week of ART right now, so fabulous!!!
i have heard so may good things about this ART! So glad it is helping! I had Graston therapy from my chiro and it hurt like CRAZY!!!
I've never heard of this before! I hope it works for you 🙂
ART got me through some major piriformis pain! I LOVE it. I hope it's as effective for you!
i have had ART and it helped soo much. i think you are in good hands – this technique is so good and the fact that your doc is giving you "homework" is a good sign – you will not only loosen things up through ART but strengthen your weak areas and get to the core of the problem – healing this injury and preventing future injury. you will be better soon – hang in there i know this is hard!!
ART brought me back from the near-dead. I couldn't run for 8 years (yes, years) and ART gave it back to me 🙂 Totally swear by it. I wish you all the very best.
It seems that ART is quite helpful for all sorts of injuries and issues! I hope it works wonders for you and you're up and running again soon! Enjoy your homework. 🙂