Frequently Asked Questions

Active Release Techniques (A.R.T.) treatment is a manual therapy administered by trained physicians and other professionals to certain soft tissue structures of the body. The purpose of this therapy is to relieve the body of adhesions and scar tissue, which can form when soft tissue structures are exposed to damaging forces. These forces usually come about in one of three different ways: a sudden or acute injury, a cumulative or chronic injury, or a pressure injury from external forces like poor posture. These injuries cause restrictions of movement, blood flow, lymph flow, and nerve conduction. The adhesions may develop between the fascia (the covering of muscles), muscles themselves, muscles and bones, muscles and nerves, tendons and joints, and many other combinations involving the soft tissues of the musculo-skeletal system. These adhesions can choke off the soft tissue's own blood, lymph, and nerve supplies. When this occurs within muscle alone, it is usually the cause of the common trigger point and is often associated with fibromyalgia. There is currently not a branch of the health care profession that specializes in the treatment of soft tissue related disorders. There is not even a name for a doctor who specializes in the treatment of muscle related and soft tissue injury.That was, until the development of the A.R.T. method of soft tissue injury management. This type of specialty goes hand in hand with the type of chiropractic training that Dr. Donato has received. He uses chiropractic, A.R.T., physical therapy, and rehabilitation therapy in combination to treat many disorders of the musculo-skeletal system. Most patients' conditions will respond to A.R.T. therapy soon after treatment begins - many times significant improvement is attained on the first visit. This is incredible when you consider that most people with this type of injury can go an entire lifetime without relief.