A Perfect Light Therapy

After my Active Release Technique treatment (A.R.T.), Dr. Leahy suggested one session of A Perfect Light Therapy, he uses these in conjunction with each other and it wasn’t a big expense so I took his advice and scheduled the appointment. Dr. Leahy wasn’t going to be there but Sophia could place the pad where it needed to go.

Above is the machine that the light pad is connected to, I took these laying on the table so lighting and actual image may be a bit off.

I changed into thin, comfortable sweats before I went in, if I was going to lay there for 20 minutes I might just want to doze off. I climbed up onto the massage table and Sophia showed me the large pad, it would be placed over the offending glute.  She said it worked best directly on the skin so I undid the drawstring, dropped trou and she placed it there.

Apparently it can get quite warm, so I was given a small doorbell, just like one you see on your front door, without a door attached. She said to ring it if the pad gets too hot.

She set a timer and left, closing the door behind me. I laid there; it felt great as it warned up, like a nice cozy heating pad. I wanted it over the rest of my body actually.

I looked at my phone, browsed Facebook a bit then put it and my head down and closed my eyes.

Next thing I knew a timer was going off, the door opened and it was Sophia. “I’m not done yet!” I exclaimed. “Are you sure that was 20 minutes?” She assured me it was time and I had to leave. I actually enjoyed the quiet and the warmth.

She asked if I wanted to schedule more sessions and I explained that Dr. Leahy said if this didn’t do it, then I should have an MRI, so no, no further sessions were needed.

I haven’t read enough to understand how the light therapy works, and what exactly it does, but it’s been almost two weeks and my contracted glute has not been bothering me. My hamstring has, and I may just schedule some visits to have this done on my hamstring and not the glute, but that’s a whole other post in the next couple days!

Active Release Technique

I'm cured! Those are the exact words Dr. Leahy used after three ART sessions. Yahoo! Previously I wrote about Active Release Technique, and now I will explain what I went through.

I first visited Dr. Leahy and explained my issues, I have very tight hip flexors and I have an anterior pelvic tilt, probably due to tight hip flexors. It was aesthetically unpleasing and probably causing me issues with quad development. In addition, this can be a cause lower back pain.

I also had issues with lack of dorsiflexion and this was causing me problems with squatting and perhaps calve development. 

Dr. Leahy had me stand and looked at me from the side, he could see the "sway back". He had me squat and immediately saw the ankle mobility issue and said that really needed to be addressed first.

Onto the table and he played with my feet. It didn't hurt at all. Onto my stomach and he worked on my glutes, specifically these areas:

Piriformis

Superior Gemellus


Inferior Gemellus

Then onto my back and these areas:


Quadratus Femoris

Vastus Lateralis


The final was the psoas, this was the hip flexor area that was causing the issues.


It took about 10 minutes and he said I would need to come back three more times probably, all within the next two weeks. The next day my left shin was fairly sore, the muscle running up it all the way to the knee was tender. 


I saw Roy and it was squat day, I could go right down to the floor with ease. Roy said he could tell by watching me walk, everything moved with ease, I wasn't stiff or tight anywhere.


When I saw Dr. Leahy two days after the first appointment we talked about the tenderness of the shin, he said it was due to the increased range of motion. 


At the second appointment he said I held onto quite a bit of the treatment, my pelvis was in a better position.


I felt great after the treatment and particularly after the second one. The third treatment he announced that he liked the curve of my back, it was perfect and normal. He performed the treatment on my psoas and talus (ankles) and said I should cancel the fourth appointment, there was no need for it. 


I felt great. 


I asked when I should come back, and his response? "You're an athlete, you will know when and if you need to return."


Will I go back? You bet, if I need to! Did my insurance cover it? No, they did not. I have an HMO and they do not cover this treatment, but I am worth the investment.


Here is a video to give you an idea of what might be done in an ART session for the psoas. You can watch the entire video, but my treatment consisted of what is shown starting at minutes 3:37. (Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view this video)

Active Release Technique

Have you ever heard of ART or Active Release Technique? Roy suggested that I look into it- I have not been having pain, but I do have a anterior pelvic tilt because my hip flexors are really tight, and I cannot dorsiflex very well. Even SC used to tell me "your dorsiflexion sucks!" It's pretty hard to get into a good deep squat if you cannot dorsiflex. 


Here is an explanation from Dr. Leahy's website, it explains much more concisely than I can. Dr. Leahy is the physician that I worked with recently.


Most healthcare providers use techniques of massage, trigger point, electrical modalities and ultrasound with varying degrees of specificity to treat soft tissue problems. These all provide reasonable results but there is a much better way.


ART is patented because it is different than anything else. This protects the public from healthcare providers who are willing to do it half way. To learn ART you must be serious enough to invest a great deal of time and effort to learn over 500 treatment moves or "protocols." More important than that, you must be able to develop a very advanced "feel" for the tissues and their texture, tension and movement. You must come to understand and evaluate the movement of each tissue relative to the one next to it and as an absolute value unto itself. This is an anatomy class like no other.


The basic premise is simple, just not easy. Shorten the tissue, apply a contact tension and lengthen the tissue or make it slide relative to the adjacent tissue. It's as simple as playing a piano and just as difficult. 


Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways:

acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc),

accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)

not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia).

Each of these factors can cause your body to produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue binds up and ties down tissues that need to move freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness.

What is an ART treatment like?

Every ART session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements.

These treatment protocols - over 500 specific moves - are unique to ART. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART is not a cookie-cutter approach.


ART has been developed, refined, and patented by P. Michael Leahy, DC, CCSP. and I am lucky enough that his brother, Dr. Joseph Leahy has his practice just a few miles from my home! If I need to see someone, I want to go to the best of the best!


I had three ART sessions now, and have noticed incredible results already. I will write about my experience in the next few days.