If you’ve recently been in an accident and have chronic pain in your neck and shoulders, you may wonder how to treat it. In this article, we’ll tell you about one specific technique for relieving pain that’s been found to work well for whiplash injuries: Active Release Technique (ART). The active release technique is a soft tissue technique used by chiropractors to break up scar tissue, and increase motion at the joint by stretching the muscle around it. Chiropractors use this technique to treat muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Here are some reasons chiropractors use the active release technique for whiplash injuries.
1. Active Release Works Fast
Many people with whiplash recover within a few weeks. But chiropractors will tell you that it’s not uncommon for pain to last longer than that, especially if you have lots of stress. Active release technique works fast, often within the first session or two. Whiplash injuries often result in tension and spasm of the muscles around the neck and shoulders, which is thought to be responsible for pain. The active release specifically focuses on stretching these muscles while smoothing and realigning the muscles.
2. Active Release Helps Get To The Root Of The Problem
When you’ve been in an accident, the pain in your neck and shoulders may come from a specific injury. But often, the pain comes from other sources as well. One of these is referred pain. Referred pain happens when inflammation or damage in one tissue causes hypersensitivity in another area of your body. So, if you strain a muscle in your lower back and it becomes inflamed, you may feel a lot of pain radiating from your lower back up into your neck and shoulders.
3. Active Release Treatment Occurs In Motion
Muscle imbalances often complicate whiplash injuries. There may be one or more muscles that are too tight and a couple that is too weak. Another common problem is that the joint isn’t moving as it should. So when you go in for treatment, your chiropractor will examine your range of motion in the damaged area before making adjustments.
4. Active Release Can Help Improve Performance
Some studies suggest that the treatment of whiplash injuries improves performance in athletes, especially golfers. The reason is that damage to the tissues around an injured joint may cause changes in muscle function. In golf, you must rotate your torso around your neck as you swing and if there are limitations in motion it will alter your golf shot. ART helps restore that normal range of motion.
Whiplash injuries are widespread and can cause chronic pain that is hard to live with. Chiropractors use the active release technique to treat the types of damages most common after accidents effectively.
If you have questions about whether ART is the best treatment for your myofascial pain, call us at (415) 521-3073 or book your appointment today!
