Active Release Technique Chiropractor in NYC
The Center For Spine Care and Mobility is home to two resident Chiropractors who employ a wide array of comprehensive chiropractic treatments. Our offices are located in Flatiron, Manhattan right in the heart of Flatiron NYC. Among our specialties is Active Release Technique or ART, which is explained below.
What is Active Release Technique?
Started by Dr. P. Michael Leahy in 1988, Active Release Technique was born out of a necessity to treat elite athletes who were suffering from soft tissue injuries that could not be healed with conventional methods.
Dr. Leahy combined the knowledge gained from his engineering degree he received from the Air Force with the anatomy and biomechanics education at chiropractic college to re-think soft tissue injury. His unique perspective allowed him to reduce soft tissue injury into basic movement patterns. Once these patterns can be recognized, reducing or healing the injured lesion became more clear.
To date there are over 10,000 providers who have been trained in this patented soft tissue technique with a claim of more than 100 million lives changed directly from Active Release treatment.
Active Release Technique or ART is one of the treatment modalities our NYC chiropractors employ at CSC+M.
NYC Active Release Technique Chiropractors
Since 2000, our chiropractors have been working with New Yorkers from Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs—treating a wide array of conditions using Active Release Technique.
What is Active Release Technique used for?
There are over 500 specific moves making up the treatment protocols used in ART®. This allows the practitioner a chance to tailor treatment to the unique needs of each patient. Individuals who may benefit from ART® include members of the athletic community both recreational and professional, chronic pain patients with symptoms mimicking an overuse syndrome, or anyone who has not been able to find relief through conventional therapies.
The types of injuries that we use ART to treat are as follows:
- Neck and low back injuries
- Hip joint and hip flexor injuries
- Knee and hamstring injuries
- Ankle and lower leg injuries
- Shoulder and bicep injuries
- Forearm and wrist injuries
- Post surgical scarring
How do I know if I’m a candidate for ART?
Active Release Technique is a type of soft tissue therapy that works in a complimentary manner with most forms of treatment. The purpose of ART is to release tight stuck tissue and allow for proper ranges of motion. If you free the surrounding tight tissue in an area that is painful, it will allow for pain-free range of motion. ART is a perfect complement to chiropractic, physical therapy, acupuncture, or even massage.
If you’re injured, experiencing pain, or are recovering from surgery—you might be a candidate for chiropractic care using ART. Schedule an appointment with one of our Active Release Technique certified chiropractors in NYC today.
How is Active Release Technique different than massage?
Massage therapy is a form of passive or static soft tissue treatment. The patient is either laying down or seated when they receive the therapy. The muscles or soft tissues or worked on without any movement. With Active Release Technique the patient or the doctor actively moves the tissue through a range of motion.
You take tissue from a shortened position to an elongated/lengthened position while working on the tissue. Determining which form of treatment is best for you depends on your symptoms and condition.
Fortunately for patients at The Center For Spine Care and Mobility, you can receive both forms of therapy in the same treatment session.
How does ART work?
When a patient presents for ART work an initial examination is performed. The practitioner first visualizes the area of chief complaint looking for differences from side to side, bruising, and any other visual clues that can help the doctor. Next comes the most important part of the examination, palpation.
As an ART practitioner, your hands are your best tool to help determine what is happening. Feeling for tightness, loss of elasticity, adhesions, and general lack of suppleness helps determine what structures need to be addressed.
Once the area of complaint has been determined the doctor goes about performing specific stretches or ART moves. These are usually done in a systematic manner with several passes on each structure. Pressure is determined based on the size of the tissue, and the depth of the structure.
Three to five passes are performed per muscle, and depending on how the tissue responds to the treatment will determine how many passes will occur.
How many sessions of ART do I need to see an improvement?
Every patient is different with regards to the degree of dysfunction, and how they respond to care. Typically we like to see improvement within 4-6 visits. If a person is presenting with a condition that has been present for many years, they might need a few more treatments before they will see change. We have had patients respond in as little as one visit.
What types of pain can ART provide relief for?
ART provides relief for a wide variety of conditions but where the technique can be most beneficial is for releasing tight, stuck adhesion tissue. These type of conditions can be the most difficult to treat and often go misdiagnosed. As we have discussed before, at the Center For Spine Care and Mobility we have the ability to treat adhesions with ART, then co-treat with modalities such as chiropractic, physical therapy, massage or even trigger point therapy.
What happens after an ART appointment?
We educate all patient with regards to post-treatment responses by the body. Patients can feel relief almost immediately which is a positive reaction to care. Other patients have a mild reaction to treatment where they feel little relief in the first visit, and lastly, some patients feel sore or stiff after care.
With proper home instruction, we can mitigate the negative effects of a sore muscle group but in the long run everyone has a different response to care. We try to space the treatments apart due to the intensity of the care but we try to be therapeutically effective with each treatment.
Is ART painful?
People ask this question all the time and the feedback we get from our patients is that it “hurts so good.” Is the treatment intense? Yes, it can be but there is a catch.
We try to make each session therapeutically beneficial. If the practitioner is causing too much discomfort, then this cannot be accomplished. With experience the practitioner can increase or decrease their pressure depending on the patients reaction to care. Here at The Center For Spine Care and Mobility, we have two ART practitioners who know how to take care of the patient.
We incorporate Active Release Technique as part of our integrated treatment protocols. During the patient’s first phase of care, the chiropractor, physical therapist, massage therapist, and nurse practitioner will discuss the case and come up with an appropriate action plan.
Active Release Technique is used in the first phase of care in order to reduce tension in certain soft tissue structures that have become tight or stuck. This is a perfect time to address the issues the patient is having with painful tight muscles.
MK Marsden and Peter Crosby I found my way to the Center for Spine Care + Mobility because I was looking for an integrated approach to treat injury-induced headaches. I used to go to an integrated physical therapy/chiropractic care center before I moved to New York from California, so I expected CSC+M to be a similar experience. Working with Dr. Schuman, Jinita, Denise, and Sandra and experiencing their targeted, attentive care is the reason why CSC+M surpassed all my expectations. My experience with CSC+M has not only helped eradicate my headaches but is helping me learn how to control and strengthen my body to correct bad habits and prevent further injuries. Not to mention the facilities are clean and comfortable and the entire staff is friendly and welcoming every time I come in. I would 100% recommend CSC+M to anyone looking for physical therapy or chiropractic work in general – why have just one form of treatment when you can have it all?!
Hi Dr. Anselmi, its been one week since my shoulder surgery and today I talked with my orthopedic surgeon. Everything went great, and a huge reason was all the work you guys did with me in preparation for the surgery. The improvements I saw after working with you, Dr Schumann and Dr Sunny were awesome and exceeded my expectations. Thank you very much.
My therapist in Hawaii referred me to Dr. Anselmi when I tore my quadricep muscle retrieving luggage from the overhead bin on an arriving flight (all my serious injuries happen in the least heroic circumstances).
Over the years, his team has put me back together after so many injuries. Last year I fell in the subway and within a few hours I saw Dr. Anselmi. He arranged for an MRI and created a treatment, with his team. It has been 8 or 9 months since my last visit and the only recurrence was when I stopped my exercises that my therapist (thanks Jinita) prescribed. I have been to every specialist imaginable but the number who DO NOT recommend surgeries comes down to just one: Dr. Anselmi. To date, I cannot imagine what might have become of me without him and his team.
Was referred to this place by a friend for my sciatica issues. Started in late June with an assessment by Dr.Chris Anselmi and have been working with him and Dr.Miller for PT. It’s been a little over 2 months and already feeling better. As with most of sports injuries, we need to do our part with exercises and stretches. I’m doing the same and hope to be fully up and running (literally). Their treatment is very organized with a chiropractic session, followed by PT and a massage. You don’t have to repeat your story with every treatment as the therapist is briefed in advance and they start working without bothering you. My experience has been good so far and I’d recommend this place to runners and people with sports injuries.
I cannot speak highly enough about CSC+M. Dr. Amsale & his staff of medical professionals has been amazing in helping me after a terrible foot injury. If you’re considering therapy or chiropractics in Manhattan look no further. Love it here!
This is a fantastic group of caring healthcare professionals. While I worked in NYC, I was a patient of Dr. Chris Anselmi for over 10 years! That says something. How many organizations are so good these days that their patrons would stick with them for so long. Dr. Anselmi is friendly, personable, knowledgeable and truly empathetic. Exactly the attributes one looks for in a doctor. I remember going there with back and neck pain in the range of 5 to 10 (on a 10 point scale) and leaving with a rating of around 1 or 2! That’s remarkable. If I still worked in the City I’d be going there even now. I highly recommend CSC+M without reservation.
NEW YORK ART CHIROPRACTORS
The Chiropractors at The Center for Spine Care and Mobility strive to excel in the field of musculoskeletal medicine. They have dedicated countless hours in the form of continuing education to ensure they are educated in the latest forms of rehabilitation. Whether it’s Active Release Technique, Graston Technique, or Functional Movement Screens (FMS), the Chiropractors at CSC+M are constantly working to better themselves for their patients’ benefit.
Since his graduation from New York Chiropractic College in 1997 Dr. Christopher Anselmi has been providing quality chiropractic care to the people of Manhattan. In April of 2003, after an extensive interview process, Dr. Anselmi was asked to join the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Integrative Care Center as the first chiropractor in its 100+ year history. Since 2003 Dr. Anselmi has maintained his private practice as well as his hospital affiliation.
Today he runs the Center for Spine Care + Mobility where a team of Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, and Massage Therapists work collectively to treat patients with a wide range of musculo-skeletal issues. Dr. Anselmi is a Masters Certified Active Release Technique chiropractor. This puts him in an elite group of health care providers who specialize in sports injuries as well as overuse syndromes. He has expanded his interest in posture and ergonomics and lectures on these, as well as many other musculoskeletal subjects.
Aaron Schuman is a graduate of Connecticut College, New London where he lettered in soccer all four years. Dr. Schuman’s postgraduate education was at New York Chiropractic College. He completed the Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician from NYCC. Schuman interned at Levittown Health Center and South Shore Neurologic Associates in New York where he functioned as part of an interdisciplinary team and was trained in acute care, chronic care, and neuromuscular rehabilitation.
Dr. Schuman is full body certified in Active Release Technique and Graston Technique-treatment systems of myofascial injuries such as back pain, neck pain, headaches, sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, temporomandibular joint syndrome, and sprain/strain injuries. He is certified as a strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and conditioning Association.