Active Release Technique?

MODAD


Find a doctor you can trust and have faith in---we are not doctors here

MoDad,

I am just running out the door so I'll have to reply later, but my son (college pitcher) had ART and it seemed to help him. I'll write more later, but Jon Doyle who sponsors the Strength forum is also very familiar with ART.

Julie

quote:

Originally posted by MoDad:
My college freshman son has had arm problems for the past several years. He has spent much time with orthopedics and physical therapists. He has been diagnosed once with shoulder impingement, but has mostly suffered from elbow problems (UCL entrapment)where his arm/fingers go completely numb. He has never had to have any surgery, just down time and rehab. He has primarily experienced the numbness whenever he catches (due to a different throwing motion possibly). How many of you or someone you know have tried ART (Active Release Technique) for baseball related arm injuries? Also, what was the outcome of the treatment? Would you recommend the treatment? The ongoing arm problems has really been frustrating (as well as painful) to my son and has limited his development opportunities over the past few years. Thanks for your input.

I posted this in the Strength/Conditioning topic as well. I apologize for the "double post", but this is a somewhat urgent matter for my family.

Do you have a video of your son throwing?

What you are describing could have a mechanical component to it.

thepainguy,
Unfortunately, I do not have video; but, I do agree that mechanics may be the source of the problem. The frustrating part is that he has become almost "gun shy" of working on throwing due to his past experiences with the pain - not that he is afraid of the pain, but afraid of causing further injury to his arm. So it has become somewhat of a catch22 situation. Now that the season is under way, it will be extremely difficult to undergo any mechanical work, especially since he is 8 hours away at school.

TRHit,
I realize we are not doctors (at least most of us). I stated that we have seen orthopedics (doctors) and undergone extensive physical therapy. I am interested in hearing of others' experiences with ART, not in getting a diagnosis or prescription - there is much to be learned from others' experiences and wisdom. I just want to know more about ART and hear first (or second) hand success/failure stories, in order to decide if it is worth pursuing.

Don't have any experience with ART, but I am familiar with nerve entrapments through my son. I assume you are talking about an ulnar nerve entrapment rather than a UCL problem based on the symptoms. Some orthopedists are not that familiar with nerve entrapments. I'd recommend that you go on the ASMI website forum and ask for a referral in your area.

We switched from an orthopedist who ignored the symptoms of the nerve entrapment to one of the top doctors possible based on the ASMI recommendation and he picked up the nerve entrapment along with an injury contributing to it right off and so far the treatment has been simple and successful without surgery.

There's a slim possibility mechanics could have something to do with it, but it is more likely due to the body's response to an old injury or simply something about the way he's put together. Be wary of people who try to sell you on changes in pitching mechanics to fix medical problems, they can be dangerous to health and performance.

As to the ART my guess is that if he's undergone extensive physical therapy he's had some ART done on him. Most physical therapists will do that. Sometimes the physical therapy in combination with the throwing rehab can simply be too much work to allow the inflammation which may be contributing to the problem to go away.

I strongly recommend visiting the ASMI website and paying attention to their referral.

You may also have to face the possibility that if the problem has continued this long he may have to have surgery to resolve it. Perhaps that has been hinted at and you would prefer to try ART first. That is quite understandable.

CADad,
Thanks for the info - I will check out the ASMI website forum. We've seen a couple of orthopedics (although both from same practice) - at least one of which I thought had some background with entrapments (he had previously worked with Dodgers and Giants, I think) but we probably need another opinion, especially from someone with extensive experience in this area. What kind of treatment is your son undergoing? I would love to hear your son's injury/treatment history if you wouldn't mind - it might be of some value to our journey to arm health. Thanks again.