Looking for input from anyone who has had ART. I developed Piriformis Syndrome about 4 months ago. At 50 years of age, I thought I learned long ago to control my ego in order to live to fight another day… but I guess I overdid my uphill interval sprints. Again. I have not run, squatted or deadlifted for about 3 months. A local chiropractor has recently been certified for ART and I have had a few sessions with him.
The sessions last for 2-3 minutes and that includes his adjustments on my SI joint which he believes is out of alignment. I have had 4 sessions with him and each has lasted 2-3 minutes. My deep tissue massage therapist spends an entire hour and at the end of a session I’m not sure who has worked harder: him or me. Is is possible to adequately perform ART in 2-3 minutes when my symptoms include discomfort in my hamstring, my glute, my piriformis, and my IT band? Please relate your ART experience to help me make a decision of how to proceed with my treatments.
I’m starting ART tomorrow. (Bicep/forearm) I’ll let you know how it goes. First appointment they said is an hour, but they say the rest will probably be 15-20 minutes each. IMO, it’s not how long they work, but how deep and how well they hit the problem area.
I’m always a little leery of anyone who has “just” been certified to do anything. Sure, they may have the capability to perform something, but they probably lack a degree of experience doing it.
hey anhospog, what muscle is your chiro using ART during those 2-3 minutes? as im sure you know piriformis syndrome is the compression of your sciatic nerve due to a tight piriformis, which in turn can cause pain in all the areas you are experiencing.
so if your chiro is using ART on your piriformis, i suspect he’s assuming by stretching/relaxing/correcting the piriformis the sciatic decompression will remove the pain in the other areas.
i wouldnt go through the trouble of finding anew practitioner without maybe just addressing your concerns with your current one… ask him why its only lasting 2 minutes. like i said earlier if its on your piriformis it makes sense why its so short, you probably dont need ART on the other muscles so much as just massage, which he may or may not do?
I have worked with chiropractors, ART people and other hands on therapy people. I think you probably have to consider their billing rates. A chiropractor usually has 6 or more appointments an hour and probably charges $40-60 per appointment. This means they are probably billing $300 an hour or more. An ART person or massage therapyst probably bills $60 to $100 per hour.
The chiropractor might bill 4x the other people. Chiropractor can do their adjustment in just a few minutes an get a lot of dollars for it either from insurance or from the patient. There’s no way they are going to spend more than a few minutes on ART because they can’t bill enough for those kind of services.
If you need adjustments, he does a good job and there no additional charge for ART them keep getting them. A good ART person can do some good in a just a few minutes. However you will still probably want other massage work. If you can find a massage person that does art you should be able to schedule 30 or 50 minutes sessions at a little more than a regular massage rate. Check it out and then compare.
[quote]Seattle_Lifter wrote:
I have worked with chiropractors, ART people and other hands on therapy people. I think you probably have to consider their billing rates. A chiropractor usually has 6 or more appointments an hour and probably charges $40-60 per appointment. This means they are probably billing $300 an hour or more. An ART person or massage therapyst probably bills $60 to $100 per hour.
The chiropractor might bill 4x the other people. Chiropractor can do their adjustment in just a few minutes an get a lot of dollars for it either from insurance or from the patient. There’s no way they are going to spend more than a few minutes on ART because they can’t bill enough for those kind of services.
If you need adjustments, he does a good job and there no additional charge for ART them keep getting them. A good ART person can do some good in a just a few minutes. However you will still probably want other massage work. If you can find a massage person that does art you should be able to schedule 30 or 50 minutes sessions at a little more than a regular massage rate. Check it out and then compare.
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A lot depends on what application is involved. Too much we don’t know. I tend to look for Chiros who are ART practioners as a way to sort out the better quality ones, even though last time I did not need ART (and took only two visits to resolve my problems stemming from being rearended, knocked five-six feet in a volvo and having my car catch on fire).
I’ve had 4 ART sessions. Each was at least 30 minutes long @ $50 per visit (with insurance).
Well worth it, as the guy (also a DC) was pretty good I thought. He freed up my shoulder ROM a bit and it doesn’t ache as it was, but I think even better (or worse) he uncovered some other problems, because now that the front isn’t so painful, I’ve zeroed in on the back of the shoulder as a source of problems (to be determined).
If not for Chiropractors I would not be able to walk straight… After getting injured the hospital did x rays, and a bunch of other things. When the MD was out of the room a RN who knew me came in and gave me the telephone number of the Chiropractor(3rd generation) that the nurses go to when injured.
By the same thought some of the Chiropractors getting certified, have been doing this for years, and are getting the certificate, so you can look at it.
Thanks for all the advice and input. I agree that much of the limited time spent on my condition is simply a funtion of how this particular chiropractor has chosen to run his practice. Most of his adjustments obviously can be performed in a short amount of time and he thinks spending 30 minutes on an ART case is not in his best financial interest. I have a type of medical practice myself and I can’t imagine only spending 5 minutes with cases. Not only can’t I do a good technical job in 5 minutes, I would not be able to simply hold a conversation with my clients.
Heck, if you are in the medical field and you don’t find a way to enjoy the oddities and stories of your clients you will slowly lose your mind. I was 30 once too. I plan to let him finish his SI adjustments over the next week or so and I’ll continue to see my massage therapist for deep tissue massage. He is also a certified yoga instructor and he has taught me several stretches that seem to be helping.