Village Chiropractic & Wellness Podcast
Welcome to the Village Chiropractic & Wellness Podcast with your host, Dr. Matt Green! Join us as we explore health, wellness, and the power of chiropractic care to help you live your best life
Village Chiropractic & Wellness Podcast
EP #2: Enhancing Mobility through Active Release Technique (A.R.T.™)
Discover the gold standard for soft tissue treatment with Dr. Matt Green as he shares his expertise on the transformative power of Active Release Technique (A.R.T.) in chiropractic care. Gain a deeper understanding of how this technique specifically targets muscles, tendons, ligaments, and major nerves, setting it apart from traditional bone-focused treatments. Through Dr. Green's vivid analogies of ironing clothes and breaking bad habits, you'll learn the structural and neurological benefits of A.R.T., and how it restores balance and health to our bodies affected by life's stressors.
Whether you're curious about A.R.T.'s applications or eager to enrich your well-being, this episode promises valuable insights into a technique that could redefine your approach to health management.
Join Dr. Matt Green of Village Chiropractic & Wellness Center for practical advice designed to keep your neck in top form and your life pain-free.
Visit villagechiropracticoakland.com to learn more.
Visit villagechiropracticoakland.com to learn more.
Welcome to the Village Chiropractic and Wellness Podcast with your host, Dr. Matt Green. Join us as we explore health, wellness and the power of chiropractic care to help you live your best life.
Intro/Close Speaker:Let's dive into today's episode.
Charlie McDermott:Well, welcome back listeners Charlie McDermott here, co-host, producer of the show and the show's star, of course, is here, Dr. Matt, how are you doing?
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, I'm doing great. Thanks, Charlie.
Charlie McDermott:Well, how are things in Oakland over Christmas?
Dr. Matt Green:Well, it's cold and rainy.
Charlie McDermott:What's that?
Dr. Matt Green:They're cold and rainy, cold and rainy, cold and rainy.
Charlie McDermott:How cold does it get there?
Dr. Matt Green:Ah, not too cold, I mean geez. I'm living in California, so I got to be careful when I say cold and rainy, right.
Charlie McDermott:I'm with you. I start talking cold when it dips into the 60s here in Florida. So I hear you. I feel your pain.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, but it's great. You know my wife is a teacher and so you know, during this break my wife and kids are both home a lot and that's great. I'm happier for myself and I wish it for everybody that we all can enjoy our company during the holiday season.
Charlie McDermott:It's a great time to record some podcast episodes too, and help folks out. Right, that's right. Well, I'm going to, I guess, label today's episode a work of art. Do you think that's appropriate?
Dr. Matt Green:I like it. You're good with words.
Charlie McDermott:So today we're going to spotlight active release technique or, yes, art A-R-T. So, doc, I figured for starters, why don't you explain I mean, obviously you know what ART is and let's hear it from the expert here what is ART and how is it different from other chiropractic techniques?
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, I'm excited to talk about it today. So ART stands for, like you said, active release technique and in my opinion it is the gold standard for soft tissue treatment. And to break that down, the reason why I think it's the gold standard is that it's highly specific. So when somebody learns ART for the first time, they're going to take a basic course and one of the basic courses they'll take is for the upper extremity, which basically means the arm, and it takes a whole weekend to learn protocols just from the top of the neck all the way down to the tips of the fingers. It's a whole weekend spent doing that and there's 110 protocols. So ART really gets highly specific in terms of learning as many of those muscles, tendons and ligaments and major nerves in the body. So I'm going to point to then what does soft tissue mean?
Dr. Matt Green:Well, soft tissue is not hard tissue and hard tissue means bone. So again, we're working with the muscles, tendons, ligaments and major nerves of the body. So how does ART actually work Like?
Charlie McDermott:that's the basic definition right, and just just if you don't mind, just just to go back before we even get to there. You mentioned what was it? 110 protocols, right? So what? Explain? Explain that, if you don't mind. What? What exactly is a protocol?
Dr. Matt Green:oh, thanks, right. So if we take the hand right. So there are muscles called the lumbricals and there's muscles, there's all these muscles and tendons and ligaments that find here. So we're going to have one protocol for that lumbricals. And then there's all the muscles that lie in the, the interosseous muscles that go in between the bones. So we're going to learn all those protocols. And then you're going to have the ligaments that attach to all the different bones in the wrist. So we're going to learn a specific protocol for each one of those. And then there's the median nerve that comes up through that carpal tunnel. So we're going to learn protocols on how to open up that area for that median nerve to come through. And you can have all the muscles that surround the thumb and all the muscles that surround the thumb that then fall all the way down the forearm. So for every single one of those tissues there's going to be a way to treat it. Does that make that be?
Charlie McDermott:more clear. So protocols is another way of knowing specifically what muscle or tendon or whatever it is, is being impacted and how to treat it. Is that, do I have?
Dr. Matt Green:that Okay. Okay, thanks for clearing that up, yeah.
Charlie McDermott:Hey, I I'm. I want to know what to say next time I see my neighborhood doc. So this is good, because I'm going to have to check out something in my calf as we're talking. But go ahead. Yeah, that's right.
Dr. Matt Green:So ART also has a very specific way for us to diagnose and to figure out which one of those tissues is problematic and which one of those are normal. So that's a very general scope to talk more about. Like how does it work, right? So ART works on two different levels.
Dr. Matt Green:One works at a structural level and then works on a neurological level. So what I mean by that is an easy analogy is for, on the structural level, art is like the iron that takes out the wrinkles of your clothes. On the neurological level, art is breaking a bad habit. Bad habit, okay. So let's take each one of those right. So, working on a very kind of structural level, what's happening right underneath my fingers?
Intro/Close Speaker:And first of all we have to talk about what's the actual problem right.
Dr. Matt Green:So when I watched my kids when they were three or four years old running through the park, it was amazing to watch, to see that they had basically perfect form and function. I mean their body works perfectly. What happens through life is that we incur stresses and those stresses either happen all at once a trip and fall, sports injury, auto accident or such or or, and they occur, normal stresses, repetitive stresses, sitting for eight to 10 hours a day doing repetitive motions or actions, working on the couch, sitting in weird positions and such. Those type of stresses occur to the brain and if they go over a certain threshold or become a certain threat, the brain is going to respond by two things, primarily contracting muscles, spasming muscles and sending inflammation.
Dr. Matt Green:And when we send inflammation then scar tissue gets set. It's a process called fibrosis. They always happen together. So now we have tight muscles and we have scar tissue that's been laid down in that area to protect that area from getting worse. Now sometimes it's small enough that all we need to do is stretch and exercise and move normally and that all gets worked out. But sometimes that stress is too much for our bodies to heal it by itself and that pattern stays.
Dr. Matt Green:So, what ART does is it takes. So what ART does is it takes. Let's say the muscles in the hand and let's say this muscle gets overly contracted.
Charlie McDermott:So what we're?
Dr. Matt Green:going to do is we're going to encourage the patient to contract that muscle, relax it all the way. Then I'm going to take my hand and go in a very specific direction of those fibers and then have that patient move those joints in such a way so that I can stretch that tissue in the exact way that it stretches. And when we do that we apply that force on that very specific fibers of those muscles. Then the scar tissue that's in there gets easily broken up, or more easily broken up, and then gets reabsorbed into the body. And when we take that muscle all the way to the end and hold it, we in the ART community we always joke that we hold it for 2.3 seconds but you hold it for a certain pause and that helps that muscle soften.
Charlie McDermott:So we're helping the muscle soften and we're helping to break up that scar tissue so that it can start to function the way that it normally functions right structural level, taking that iron and taking the wrinkles out of the, out of that tissue, is that where, like you, feel like knots in your, your muscles and certain parts of your body.
Dr. Matt Green:And exactly exactly right, and they have different types of feeling, depending on how recent that tissue damage has been. You know, it could be that kind of like soft lumpy point, or if it's been there for a really long time, it could be hard and leathery. So that's another way for us to diagnose. Hey, how long has this tissue been there? How long is this probably going to take to heal and get better?
Charlie McDermott:Wow, Interesting Okay.
Dr. Matt Green:So that's one. So that's working on that structural level, right where the iron taking out the wrinkles.
Charlie McDermott:Yeah.
Dr. Matt Green:That tissue. Number two, we're working on a neurological level. So there's a reason we've been on this earth for thousands and thousands of years. Right Like our brains, our body is amazing at keeping us protected. And if there's an injury that happens to the body and that brain goes into that protective mode, it's going to hold those muscles until it feels safe, until it feels safe for it to let go. It feels safe until it feels safe for it to let go. And again, if these injuries are small enough, maybe all it takes is to get out there and exercise and to stretch for that area to start to move again. Brain gets better signals, says okay, that area is starting to work better, I'm going to start to let it go and the body naturally heals itself.
Dr. Matt Green:But sometimes there are accidents or there are injuries that have happened that are too severe or that have been happening repetitively for too long for the brain to feel safe to let go.
Dr. Matt Green:So again what I was talking about, that ART, when we take that tissue all the way, specifically in this specific motion that it is designed to move, in this specific motion that it is designed to move, and we hold it there, there's little sensors on the ends of those ligaments called Golgi tendon apparatus, that's firing up information to the brain and that's the signals that we want to give to help to override its protective mode.
Dr. Matt Green:And that's what we want to do. We want to override that protective mode so that the brain gets a sense that it's safe for it to let go. For then the signals that it starts to give it for it to start to act more normally, right? So it got into a habit. It got it into a habit that some say could be beneficial for us to help us protect so that tissue doesn't get damaged more. But it's still, it's in a habit. It's in a habit of holding it and we want to help us protect so that tissue doesn't get damaged more. But it's still, it's in a habit. It's in a habit of holding it and we want to help to break that pattern so that it can remember what it's like to be good and hopefully that's the end of all the all the stories.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, feel good and that we, uh, that we function the way that we want to and we get out there, we can get back to playing pickleball, or you know doing the things that we want to and we get out there and we can get back to playing pickleball, or you know doing the things that we want to do, right, right.
Charlie McDermott:So what kind of conditions do you see in injuries and so forth?
Dr. Matt Green:Right. So if you can get a sense, there's a protocol for almost every muscle, tendon, ligament and then major nerve in the body. So you can imagine there's.
Dr. Matt Green:There's almost nothing that art can really fix a lot of things, it can really help things. And if it can't fix it or help, it can certainly be a positive influence. Right, because it can have such a broad spectrum. But that's it's a little too. So I think a good way to answer that question is is that when people send in their paperwork first, before I see them for the first time?
Dr. Matt Green:some of the issues that I see that they're coming in with that I feel confident right away. I was like I know I can help this person with ART. First one is sciatica. So sciatica really means sciatica syndrome. It's really any pain that's traveling down the leg, whether down the front or down the back, usually to the knee or sometimes beyond the knee and into the toes. There's specific protocols for sciatica. That's fairly general, not general, a fairly common symptom that people have that come in with. So I would say SATA can certainly help with that. Protocols for frozen shoulder or a lot of shoulder problems. There's so many ligaments specifically in through here that don't get paid attention to by a majority of practitioners in my opinion, because ART is so specific, we're learning all of those ligaments in there and to go through the protocol to figure out which one is working, which one is not. I'm excited Well, I don't know if I should say I'm excited when people come in with shoulder pain but I'm excited because I can help them.
Dr. Matt Green:You know, that makes sense.
Charlie McDermott:But that must be quite a process, especially, I'm thinking the shoulder. You know, like you said, there's so many different components there holding that joint together and there are probably some of them are pretty deep inside. You know, close to the joint.
Dr. Matt Green:Of course. Of course, and, like I said, you know, sometimes it's not a very deep, deep, well you know, well rooted problem. That that's fairly easy just to give, you know, a few treatments, a few inputs to that area for it to click back. And other times, you know, it's a shoulder injury that got it was a football injury 30 years ago with no body work and you know the person works 60 hours a week. You know, yeah, that's that. Now, hopefully, what I do is I communicate to them the what to expect. And I think somebody who comes in like that they're there. You know they would be crossing their eyebrows if I was to say, hey, I can fix this in two or three. You know two and three visits. So I think people have a sense of how long that's going to take. But you're right. I mean, sometimes it's quick, sometimes it's long, sometimes it's somewhere in the middle Hopefully.
Dr. Matt Green:I do a good job of communicating what to expect. Yeah, tennis elbow, I would say right now, pickleball injuries are fairly common and mostly around the elbow, mostly around the shoulder and around the knees. So we got ART protocols for pretty soon go to ART class and they'll be like hey, now we're going to go over our pickleball protocols.
Charlie McDermott:Interesting.
Dr. Matt Green:Fairly common injuries from there TMJ, so problems with the jaw I have a dentist that's in my community that refers people over for people with TMJ problems.
Dr. Matt Green:You know, I got to say the basics like stiff neck, stiff low back, those are fairly common. And then the last one is the migraines. So I would say to somebody you know, there's probably about a 50% chance that we're going to have an effect with the migraines, Because sometimes it's rooted in the way that the head is situated right on top of the spine and those that occiput and C1 are stuck together. Specific ART protocols for all the muscles there and through there to allow that head and that top of that spine to glide more freely there, you know we can keep going with the ankle sprains and you know, meniscus problems.
Dr. Matt Green:But I would say like if I had to come up with the main ones there, that's a good list.
Charlie McDermott:All right. Well, I got one for you in a second here. But before I do that, I just want to remind your audience we've created a we'll call it a text line. So for those of you who have specific questions or just general questions, whether it's about this topic, art or something you'd like the doc to talk about, text us 510-281-1708. That's 510-281-1708. So, doc, I got one for you. I went out running jogging about a week ago and I got about a half mile, quarter mile, and now I know this isn't fair because I'm not in the office and all that.
Charlie McDermott:I just felt this like golf ball, maybe baseball size, like pain. Uh, it wasn't a dagger or anything, but you know I'm I'm thinking I did some damage to the soft tissue. Uh and uh. So is that? Is that something that this uh, again, I again the disclaimer here you haven't seen me, you haven't done any uh diagnosis, but is that something that, uh, you could help my recovery with?
Dr. Matt Green:of course, and so we want to look at I. What I would do is I would have you on the table and I'd put my hands right where you're feeling it, and then I would have you move your knee and move your hip and move that whole area. Also, I'm going to ask you in what direction does it hurt? I'm going to have you move it in that direction and by putting my hands, I'm feeling for which muscles are grabbing and pulling where I'm expecting them to be relaxed. I'm also looking for tissues. That's pulling my thumb forward when I'm expecting it to not, I'm feeling for what's abnormal forward when I'm expecting it to not, I'm feeling for what's abnormal. Then we do a couple passes they may be on that specific tissue that I'm suspicious of and then I have you go back and do that motion and a lot of times people are like, wow, that doesn't hurt anymore, and so that's that's the basic process that we go through, wow.
Intro/Close Speaker:You're going to have to come out of.
Charlie McDermott:California, what's that? Yeah, I know California. I'm looking at flights. Yeah, right, man, this is interesting stuff. I mean, I've been around, I don't know, health and wellness, you know, for decades. Yeah, how old is art and why doesn't more people know about it?
Dr. Matt Green:Well, it's been around since 1984. Dr. Michael Leahy. He was in the Air Force and he graduated from where you graduate from, when you're in the the air force. Can't remember that school, air force academy?
Dr. Matt Green:um, uh, he went to that school can't remember anyway, so he's an engineer either way, and when he came out then that was unfulfilling for him. So then he became a chiropractor and then, while he was a chiropractor, he designed art. Um, and I just I have such respect for him and the whole organization. They're always evolving, they're always learning and their, their classes are always yeah, always evolving and changing and learning. Um, yeah, it's very important for him to keep the high reputation of ART, but when I go to ART courses, it's primarily chiropractors. I would say it's like 60% chiropractors. I would say it's about 30% physical therapists. I would say it's 10% massage therapists, acupuncturists, but yeah, that's the majority of the practitioners that do it.
Charlie McDermott:So we talked about various kind of we'll call them candidates for ART. Whether it's the pickleball guy or gal with pain in the elbow or, you know, the weekend warrior who's got shoulder issues and the football injury decades ago and things like that, what advice would you give someone who you know? I think for a lot of people it's a question of is this just one of these things that I'll sleep off and I'll be better tomorrow, in a few days, or is this going to turn into something chronic? Am I better off getting it treated now, or at least look that, versus, you know, gutting it out and popping the the advil?
Dr. Matt Green:it's a good question.
Dr. Matt Green:It just has to do with a person's priority you're gonna have somebody who's um, you know, she just came in and won, like a fairly high level pickleball tournament. Um, you know, she's coming in weekly, uh, bi-weekly. Sometimes the pain is in her forearm and the knees are a little bit more intense. Sometimes it's really not much at all, but she wants to work at her best. So she is just going to come in on a regular basis and have me check and make sure that she's operating at a very high level. And other folks it's not as such a high priority and their lives are busy.
Dr. Matt Green:You know they're working an immense amount of hours, and then they have a family to go home to and they have other extra curricular activities and maybe they have high pain tolerance. So you know they'll wait. They'll wait until it gets bad enough, where then the spouse kind of pushes them out the door and says, hey, better go see somebody about it. So you know, and then there's everybody in between. But I think it has to do with you know, where's the natural priority? I mean really no judgment about that, it's just like naturally, where's the priority of health?
Charlie McDermott:Yeah, yeah, makes sense.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah.
Charlie McDermott:All right. Well, this has been really good. Any final takeaways for?
Dr. Matt Green:us. I just I love art. It's such a great fit for me.
Dr. Matt Green:You know, I was a massage therapist before becoming a chiropractor and then when I came to chiropractic school I got into the cadaver lab and I was fascinated because I wanted to know what I'd been feeling all that time. So as soon as I graduated chiropractic school I went right back and I started teaching in the cadaver lab. And so I taught in that cadaver lab for five years so I really got to know. I mean, there's no better way to learn than to teach, and so I got to know all those muscles, tendons, ligaments and major nerves in the body in a very visceral way, and so when I found art.
Dr. Matt Green:it seemed like what a natural fit. You gotta have a good sense of touch and you gotta have a really good knowledge of the anatomy, and so when I found it, I was so happy. So it was such a it was such a good fit, and I'm excited always to share it with other folks.
Dr. Matt Green:I think the one thing about ART is that not a lot of people come in with that, but some people do that, have a little bit of. They're a little nervous that it's going to be a little too intense or that it's going to hurt or that it's going to cause them some type of pain during or after. And I just wanted to assure people that there's nothing that I would ever, ever, ever do to cause anybody any type of reason to have to majorly protect themselves while they're on the table.
Dr. Matt Green:Yes sometimes we're breathing through something right in order to break through to the other side. Sometimes that's occurring, but you know, I'm certainly bringing people into that more intense state and then gently bringing them out and checking in with them to making sure that the intensity is okay, because some people I can't go hard enough and other people I just start to do the process and they're like, whew, that's a little too much. So there's always a check-in with the intensity with that. But yeah, I think those were the other things. I mean, art is super awesome and I'm really I'm such I'm so excited to be to have that. And it's not a chiropractic technique, it's separate.
Charlie McDermott:Yeah, separate.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, it's separate, so, but it's a perfect partner, right.
Charlie McDermott:Yeah, sounds like it. Yeah, love it, love it. Well, for our listeners again, Dr. Matt is in the Oakland California area and I know there's only a few folks like myself who are going to jump on a plane today and get my cap checked, just kidding. But for our listeners and viewers who are in your area, you want to let them know what's the best way. I know you have a number of ways of them either getting in touch or, heck, booking a consultation.
Dr. Matt Green:Sure, a couple different ways. Uh, one we're located in montclair village, so which is it like? A neighborhood in oakland, um, a great little village, love being there. Um, walk in the front door, say hi. So that's then. Number two is to call the number that's down below the 5, 10, 2, 8, 1, 1, 7, 0, 8 to make an appointment. Uh also can go to the website villagechiropracticoklandcom, and that's a fairly easy process. You click on book an appointment, book a new appointment, and it'll walk you through all the steps to come on into the office. Any LSL, charlie, what about booking a consultation?
Charlie McDermott:Yeah, you know, I think the best for everyone is the 510-281-1708. Because for some folks it might be two in the morning, Couldn't sleep. They're like ready for ART now because it's keeping them up at night. You can go ahead and text that number and just say Dr. Matt, love to schedule a consultation or you have questions, Use that number and you won't get AI. You'll get a real life human, actually real-life Dr. Matt, and we'll hook you up.
Dr. Matt Green:That's right. That's right. And I think if there's anything left to say, charlie, is that when people come in to see me, the ART and the chiropractic care are just seamlessly woven into each other. Sometimes people come in it's very rare, but every once in a while someone will come in just for ART. But for the most part, art and chiropractic are both great tools and I use them together and do an exam, do that consultation, and then come back and let people know hey, here's how we're going to use these two really great tools to get you better.
Charlie McDermott:Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're a great teacher. It's been awesome.
Dr. Matt Green:Yeah, thanks, charlie, appreciate it.
Intro/Close Speaker:All right?
Charlie McDermott:Well, we will see you in the next episode. Enjoy the rest of your holiday there. Great Thanks, you too.
Dr. Matt Green:Charlie.
Intro/Close Speaker:Thanks for tuning in to the Village Chiropractic and Wellness Podcast with Dr. Matt Green. For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit our website at villagechiropracticoaklandcom or call us at 510-281-1708. Stay well and we'll see you next time.