Active Release Technique (ART)

Dr. Manison is proud to be a provider of Active Release Techniques (ART). He is the first and one of the very few licensed practitioners of ART in the Columbia / Ellicott City, MD (Howard County) region. Dr. Manison has been providing ART for athletes of all levels for many years and he has more experience applying the technique than anyone else in the area.

Active Release Techniques (ART) is a very sophisticated and highly effective soft tissue mobilization assessment and treatment technique that is used for a multitude of conditions. It is sought after by athletes at all levels for its highly regarded success rate and is a popular treatment protocol used on many professionals sports teams due to its impressive results.

The technique was developed by Dr. Michael Leahy, D.C. (CCSP®) in the late 1980s and was officially named Active Release Techniques (ART) in 1990. Dr. Leahy, a chiropractor with a strong engineering background due to his education at the U.S. Air Force Academy, combined his training in both fields and used it to help him develop a system by which to identify different forms of improper tissue feel (adhesions) and associated dysfunction and develop a means/way to assess such in a consistent fashion and then apply a proper treatment protocol to reduce/eliminate the problem.

Dr. Leahy's technique (ART) quickly became a big hit in athletic circles as he was successfully treating a variety of sports-related injuries that were otherwise not responding to medical intervention and standard forms of therapy. Due to his great success at improving the health of his patients and the increasing demand for his work, he began teaching his techniques. We are very grateful he did as ART is an amazing technique to learn…and implement. It does yield phenomenal results where other techniques tend to fall short. Dr. Leahy's contribution to the assessment and treatment of soft tissue injuries is very significant.

ART is now a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique. It can be used to treat soft tissue problems found in muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves. ART also boasts a high success rate for the treatment of headaches, neck pain, back pain, pelvic pain, shoulder pain, thigh/leg problems, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, 'sciatica', plantar fascitis, knee problems, golf injuries, tennis elbow, and more.

Drs. Manison has successfully completed the difficult ART training for the lower extremity, upper extremity, and spine. Dr. Manison has also taken the advanced Masters class and Nerve Entrapment class.  Dr. Manison has more experience with ART than any other practitioner in the area. This area includes Howard County (Maryland), Columbia, Ellicott City, and the southern Baltimore region. He uses Active Release Techniques along with his other skill sets to maximize patient progress and help condition the patient for rehabilitative / stabilization exercises.  Dr. Manison is proud to be an ART Ironman Provider.

Please visit our Techniques Page to find a link to visit the website of Active Release Techniques (ART) to learn more about this amazing technique.