Active Release Techniques®

Sometimes the place that hurts is the problem.

Sometimes it's simply where the problem finally decided to complain.

Active Release Techniques® (ART) is a targeted, movement-based soft tissue treatment used to address problems involving muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves.

Rather than simply working over an area because it hurts, ART uses precise contact combined with specific movements to identify and treat the individual structures that may be contributing to pain or restricted movement.

The goal isn't more pressure.

The goal is better movement and better function.

ART has hundreds of treatment protocols, allowing a trained practitioner to work with specific soft tissue structures literally from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.

Common problems we see include:

• Neck and shoulder pain • headaches • TMJ • rotator cuff and shoulder restrictions 
• Tennis and golfer's elbow • forearm and wrist pain • repetitive strain and carpal tunnel-type complaints 
• Mid and low back pain • hip and gluteal problems • sciatic nerve-related symptoms 
• Hamstring and quadriceps injuries • knee problems • IT band complaints 
• Calf tightness • Achilles problems • ankle restrictions 
• Plantar fascia and foot pain • running and overuse injuries 
• Post-surgical and injury-related soft tissue restrictions 
• Nerve irritation and entrapment involving soft tissue 

And that's hardly the complete list.

If muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, or nerves are involved, ART gives us a very specific way to evaluate and address the soft tissues that may be contributing.

ART became well known through professional and competitive sports, but you don't need to be an athlete to benefit from targeted soft tissue treatment.

We work with athletes and weekend warriors, certainly.

But we also work with golfers who just want to finish 18 holes comfortably. 

Pickleball addicts who refuse to take a day off. 

Runners trying to keep running. 

People who sit at computers all day. 

People recovering from surgery or old injuries.

Stressed-out moms 

CEOs 

Gardeners 

Travelers 

Octogenarians who have absolutely no intention of slowing down.

Your body doesn't particularly care whether you irritated your shoulder competing in a tournament, lifting your grandchild or reaching into the back seat of your car.

It just knows something isn't moving happily.

ART isn't simply deep pressure applied wherever you hurt.

Treatment is directed toward specific anatomical structures. You'll often move during treatment while contact is maintained on the tissue being addressed. That combination of movement and precise contact is one of the things that makes ART different from traditional massage.

Because bodies rarely read the textbook, treatment isn't determined by a diagnosis alone.

Two people can walk through the door with the same diagnosis and need very different treatment.

We treat what we find—not simply what the condition is called.

Woods Edge Therapy is bringing nearly three decades of hands-on experience and Active Release Techniques® to the Chapel Hill and Chatham County area.

Whether your goal is getting back to competition, playing another round of golf, keeping up with the grandkids, or simply turning your head without your neck having an opinion about it, the objective is the same:

Find the soft tissue restriction. Treat it specifically. Get you moving better.

Experienced hands. Smarter treatment. Better movement.