Question for Doug Santillo

Doug, on another thread you sounded like you have a good working knowledge of ART. My question is: is it possible to perform ART on oneself? I’ve been dealing with some fairly bad tendonitis in my right forearm (if I extend the arm and pick up something like I’m palming a basketball, or if I shake hands hard with anyone, it hurts) for about two months now, and while I’m getting massage and ultrasound treatments, it isn’t getting much better (and not nearly as fast as I want it to). I’m in Japan, and I doubt there are any ART practitioners here. So is it possible to do it on myself (or maybe train my girlfriend to do it, if I knew the pressure points), or am I just doomed to heal slowly? Thanks for your time.

From my own experiences with ART, I would say no, that you couldn’t perform it on yourself. What an ART practicioner does is find certain points around affected areas that may be causing undue tension and leading to poor tracking or stress on the affected joint. He’ll release the tension in these areas by putting pressure on these points while taking the joint through its range of motion. I really don’t think you’d be capable of correctly diagnosing the problem or finding the appropriate release points without a great deal of training, and you probably wouldn’t be able to do it on yourself anyway. I’ll tell you what though, I’m seeing Dr. Dave Radaszewski, probably the best and most well-known provider outside of Mike Leahy himself, and I’ll ask him about your condition and if there’s anything you could do for it. I’ll get back to you on Monday.

There is a supplement which has very potent anti-inflammatory action and which may be of use (I use it in post-op patients to relieve inflammation). It is called cytolyse and is sold by one of the…MLM companies and ONLY to physicians. I can’t really get it for you, but a web search might find a source. Alternatively other similar compounds are around e.g.WOBE-MUGOS. The key here is to take a high dose proteolytic enzyme and take it on an empty stomach many times/day.

Doug, could you do me a favour too and ask your friend Dr. Dave Radaszewski if he is aware of any reputable ART practitioners(or any specialists that can help me out) over here in the UK, as my shoulders definitely need some work.

Thanks for the replies so far. I’ll wait for Monday’s stuff…

i went to an ART practitioner for several weeks and learned enough to be able to work on my biceps, forearms, and triceps on my own. its very hard to do it yourself because you can’t generate enough pressure. i’ve taught my wife and she can help, but she doesn’t have enough strength and endurance for certain muscles. my doctor fixed his carpal tunnel problems himself.

Here’s what the good doctor had to say… There’s no way an untrained person could perform active release on himself. I asked him specifically about forearm and shoulder problems, and he went on to give me the most in depth anatomical lesson I’ve ever had. Basically, there are so many inter-working relationships and specific muscles and release points along those muscles that training is an absolute must. This also explains why doctors and chiropracters are so much better at ART than massage therapists and trainers who get certified. They simply have a better understanding of anatomy. Sorry Scott, I didn’t get your message until today, so I didn’t ask him about UK providers. But I’m sure that Dr. Leahy’s office will know. You can find his number somewhere on this site… Char-dawg, I don’t know what to tell you bro. I doubt there are any practicioners in Japan, but I would recommend that you call Dr. Leahy’s office as well to check. They’ll be able to help you a lot better than I can.

I don’t think even a trained person can do
ART on himself. The ART practicioner I went
to went to another practicioner himself. Also,
ART is very physically demanding on the
practicioner and requires a decent amount
of strength. You wouldn’t be able to practice
ART if you have weak hands/forearms/arms;
likewise I doubt you could generate enough
force on yourself - especially due to the
poor leverage.

It’s impossible do do ART on yourself. I’m a total body credentialed provider, and believe me I tried. When I get hurt I drive to one of my instructors, Dr. Rob Destefano in New Jersey. I have three years experience and have worked at four Ironman races, and believe me I tried. An untrained person does not have the anatomical knowledge and sense of touch. How mant people out there have any idea where their anconeus is?
Doug, tell dave Tom from pa. said hi. Ask him what a sake bomb is. LOL

Doug (and everyone else), thanks for the replies. I guess it was sort of a vain hope on my part, but when you’re in pain, you’ll try just about anything. Actually, one of the therapists that I see here does something that sounds a little like ART. Although the pain is in my forearm, he presses points along the sides of my hips, along the spine and around the scapula, and sometimes in the trapezius area. This is alternated with what I can only describe as a sort of gentle Rolfing - taking my ribcage, for example, and twisting it gently back and forth to “better align the joints”. To my initial surprise, that worked much better than the forearm massage and stretching that the other guys did. However, he has not done anything like moving my joints throught their range of motion while working on the pressure points. One other thing I’m trying at the moment is one of those Magna-Bloc cuffs that I’m wearing on my elbow. It seems to have a small beneficial effect for relieving pain while I’m typing and such, but doesn’t really contribute to lasting recovery. Anyway, I learned some good stuff from the posts. Thanks for trying!

I know this is slightly off the topic, but I would appreciate any feedback from you guys out there with experience with ART (either patient or practitioner). I have recently had several ART treatments by a highly recommended practitioner with mixed results. Apparently, like just about everyone else, I have tendinitis in my elbows and shoulders (for about 5 years). I had several sessions (perhaps a dozen or so for each problem) with fairly limited improvements.


They are perhaps 25% improved in regards to reduced pain. I do see some improvements in range of motion though. Again, this was a practitoner who is fully credentialed and came higly recommended. Is something amiss or do I just not respond well to ART? With so many treatments, I thought the improvement would be greater. He seems to be a good guy I am not meaning to disparage a professional who worked hard and really seemed to go to bat for me: just seeking unbiased opinions.

I just started having ART therapy done on my lower back in conjunction w/ electric stim. I’ve only had two sessions so I can’t say too much yet, but I seem to have a greater range of motion and less soreness in general. Basically I hurt my back squatting which I guess would have eventually happened given the condition of my back. My spine curves to the left and forward, also my left hip is slightly higher than my right which is the result of quite a bit of tightness in my lower back area. So since I injured my back I have had a dull soreness there that would not go away after about 7 weeks. The therapy seems to have alleviated some of that dull soreness, but sometimes I feel more of a DOMS type of soreness now after the therapy, usually the following day. I’ll know more after a few more sessions.