FAQ’s
Frequently asked Questions:
Will I have to go to the office forever like with my other Chiropractor?
What does Active Release Techniques® feel like?
Is this really an alternative to surgery?
Will my insurance cover this treatment?
How can I check before I come in to see if treatment will be covered by my insurance?
Find an Active Release provider in your area
“Will I have to go to the office forever like with my other Chiropractor?
No, you will not have to come to us forever for care. Although we did go through chiropractic school, the thing that separates our type of treatment from other chiropractors is by the use of Active Release Techniques®. In chiropractic school, everyone learns the art of chiropractic manipulation, aka adjusting, as well as the basics in physiotherapy and rehabilitation; however one element, which is severely lacking, is the education of treatment of the soft tissues. This is where we have furthered our education.
Active Release Techniques® is considered the “Gold Standard” of soft tissue work. For this reason it is the most sought after treatment by world-class athletes, NFL, NHL, and MBL teams. We do believe chiropractic adjustments do help, but only combined with the use of Active Release Techniques® and proper rehabilitation in the office as well as at home.
Our philosophy is that most all conditions are primarily soft tissue injuries with an osseous (bony joint) component. Typically, our patients will see significant results within about 4 treatments (If this is not so, there is a possibility that the condition is not something we can fix.) Usually with about 8 -10 treatments, our patients are feeling good and are given life changing rehab exercises and stretches, which should keep them from having any further issues in that area. On the other hand, many times athletes choose to keep coming to decrease the amount of wear and tear on their bodies. Constant treatment will enable them to perform at their highest level possible.
“What does Active Release Techniques® feel like?”
Many people describe it as a “good hurt” when receiving treatment. It can be painful but this only lasts as long as the treatment. Afterwords, you should be better than when you walked in. One thing to consider is that if your pain can be duplicated during the treatment, it is a good sign; this means your source of pain has been located.
“What makes Active Release Techniques® any different than the muscle work my other chiropractor did on me?”
Active Release Techniques® is a patent medical procedure which has a distinctive protocol for each and every muscle of the body. No two muscles in the body attach to the same two spots and for that reason each muscle has it own unique action and motion. Active Release Techniques® takes this into consideration, making this type of muscle work the most specific there is. In fact, a full body certified Active Release provider must learn unique protocols for over 300 different muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
Active Release Techniques® also holds the “miracle cure” for peripheral nerve entrapments by utilizing the Long Tract Nerve Entrapment Protocols. Active Release Techniques® is the only type of muscle work which can effectively free nerves from surrounding soft tissues. It is the non-surgical cure for sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, “pinched nerves” and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Other types of muscle work, or myofascial release are grossly unspecific and do not even come close to providing the same results as Active Release Techniques®.
“Is this really an alternative to surgery?”
Active Release Techniques® is considered an alternative to surgery because many of the conditions that we treat are conditions that many times draw a recommendation of surgery from medical doctors and orthopedic surgeons. In fact, many of the patients we manage do not really need surgery at all, but instead the main cause of their pain was just misdiagnosed. We are not totally against surgeries, just unnecessary ones. There is no doubt that some conditions do require surgery.
A few of the more common conditions we treat as an “alternative to surgery” are: numbness in the arms, numbness in a leg or sciatica (usually not both legs), carpal tunnel syndrome, low back pain, knee pain, and shoulder pain.
What we do at P3 Sports Care still holds some aspects of chiropractic care although many of our philosophies about injuries differ from traditional chiropractors. Most chiropractors believe the root of the problem first develops from within the joints of the spine, where restricted motion in certain segments of the spine cause the end results of pain, decreased range of motion, muscles spasms, pinched nerves and even decreased nerve flow to internal organs, such as the heart.
Here at P3 Sports Care, we have a little different perspective. Through our years of work using Active Release Techniques®, we believe most all injuries need to be treated primarily as soft tissue injuries with an osseous, or joint, component that follows. So what does all this mean to the patient? Less aggressive chiropractic adjustments, no pounding away at someone’s spine, no feeling like you been put in a Full Nelson when you walk out of the office. We always address the soft tissue components first, relaxing the area, making adjustment seem to effortlessly fall into place.
“Will my insurance cover this treatment?"
Some insurance companies do cover this treatment, but many of them don’t. Many patients will say stuff like, “Well I have Blue Cross PPO” or something along those lines, but the fact is Blue Cross has many different PPO plans with different amounts of coverage. There is no way for us to know until you bring in or fax us your insurance card (with your birthdate) and we try to process claims.
Long story short, insurance companies have become a hassle for health care providers to deal with and as a result many providers are moving away from them. Most Active Release Techniques® providers have already made this transition to “cash only” practices. In fact, many psychiatrists do not even accept insurances anymore, generally the only ones that do are the ones that are not as skilled at what they do. I guess you pay for what you get.
Currently treatment at P3 Sports Care is covered under Blue Sheild of California, so check your card and look for a shield.
So what are our options if you have an insurance that will pay for PART of the treatment?
Often what we do is we have each patient pay at the time of the each office visit and we then give them a statement or receipt of what we did in that treatment session. Patients will then submit this paper to their insurance company and keep anything that comes back.
If by chance your insurance does cover the WHOLE treatment, we have each patient pay the amount of the first office visit in full. When we verify that the insurance company will pay for the treatment, we then send the amount paid by the patient as “refund in full", if your responsibility is zero.
However, it is impossible to know if your insurance is going to pay for your treatment at P3 Sports Care without actually calling and talking to someone from your insurance company. However, since currently we are "out-of-network" with all insurance companies, there are a few things to consider:
➢ Your "Out-of-network" deductible must be met before your insurance will pay for a dime of any treatment (this goes for all treatment from all health care providers).
➢ You are still responsible for your co-insurance (i.e. if your coverage is 90%, then you are only responsible for 10%).
➢ Your "Co-payment" is not applicable to any "out-of-network" services such as ART®. "Co-insurances" only apply to "In-network" providers. At P3 Sports Care, we feel this method of payment will help everyone in the long run. The doctors will be happy because they are getting paid for the work they do and the patients are happy because the doctor is able to spend more quality time with them. For more information on insurance, feel free to contact our office, visit the insurance link on our website, or fax a copy (front and back) of your insurance card with you birthday to our office. Sorry we do not take HMO insurance.
If you would like to see if you insurance will pay for anything at all, give them a call and ask for the benefits of the following “out-of-network” service: Remember you must ask for "out-of-network" benefits or all the information will be wrong.
➢ What is the “effective date” of your plan?
➢ Is your yearly deductible met and how much is it?
➢ What is your “out of pocket max” for the year?
➢ What is the coverage of “out of network” chiropractic services? (they will give you a “% of reasonable and customary charges”)
➢ How many dates of service per year are allow?
➢ How many dates of service have been already used for the year?
➢ What is dollar amount or amount of services allowed per day?
If you have all this information when you walk into the office for the first time, we will have a better idea of if your insurance company will cover the treatment or not.
“How do I find an Active Release Techniques® provider in my new area?”
Most providers are listed on the “Find a Provider” link on the Active Release website, www.activerelease.com. Just type in your new zip code and all the providers in the area and their ART regions of certification should be on there. You can also ask our office if we know of anyone in the area. One of the best things about ART is that every provider should know all of the same protocols and should have the same touch, yielding similar treatment results.
“I can’t say enough how much I love ART! I went through several years of lower back pain and headaches. Traditional doctors just wrote it off as arthritis and medicated me. Then one day my friend recommended trying ART. After just three treatments, my pain was reduced substantially! Now, as soon as I feel any bit of pain (be it from a headache or injury), I head straight to Sebastian for ART treatments instead of the medicine cabinet! Thanks for keeping me pain free!”
Anna Raddavong, Community College Worker