Because Active Release Technique (ART) was unknown to me, I googled it and found many articles and other references. Members reading this discussion may find them informative. Here's one of a number of similar descriptions:

"ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles."

I found nothing to explain how a massage technique that involves no special equipment could be patented or how much the owner of the patent is paid for leasing or licensing ART to a massage technician.

Here's a link to another reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4563290/ and an excerpt from this 2015 article:

"The active release technique (ART) is a manual therapy for the recovery of soft tissue function that involves the removal of scar tissue, which can cause pain, stiffness, muscle weakness, and abnormal sensations including mechanical dysfunction in the muscles, myofascia, and soft tissue. The effectiveness of ART has been reported for carpal tunnel syndrome, Achilles tendonitis, and tennis elbow, all of which involve soft tissue near joints in the distal parts of the body. ART is also effective at reducing pain and increasing ROM in patients with a partial tear of the supraspinatus tendon (in the shoulder). Most patients with chronic neck pain experience pain and movement limitation as a result of soft tissue impairment in the neck."

The unique factors in this description are "soft tissue function" and "removal of scar tissue" usually attributable to "mechanical dysfunction in the muscles." There is no mention of bone or skeletal injury or disformation as targets of ART massage therapy.

Hey predictable. Thanks for the interesting and informative info on ART. Got a second shot today so we'll see what happens. Am going tp PT and will definitely try ART. I think ART can help get to the root of your problems by releasing your muscle spasms and breaking us the scar tissue. Will keep you posted. Take care.

You're welcome @junebug15. Perhaps my personal experience with a problem similar to yours will be useful to you. I was treated by PT for a diagnosis of inflamed nerves from spinal arthritis, then the spinal surgeon pointed me toward steroid injections to reduce the inflammation. I turned that down because it appeared to be a bridge to major spinal surgery.

I asked about the possibility of Piriformis Syndrome, which didn't interest the surgeon. Instead he had the physical therapist put me on a spinal stretching table, theorizing that would relieve any bone pinches on nerves coming out of the spine. The stretch made things worse! It apparently aggravated one or both of my Sacroilliac Joints, causing continuing and exaggerated pain where the spine attaches to the pelvis.

Discussing next steps with my primary care physician, she knew about cases of Sacroilliac Joint dysfunction; the SJ is the spinal joint closest to where the Piriformis attaches to the Illium mound of the pelvis. SJ pain is treated with an injection into the joint. If the pain stops, that confirms the SJ diagnosis. I got the shot, the pain ended, and it hasn't returned in three years. My wrongly diagnosed spinal arthritis, as well as suggested Sciatica, haven't bothered me since.

Very interesting predictable. I think half the battle is getting the rigjt diagnosis. If this second shot doesn't work I think I will find a good neurologist for a second opinion.