Paul Henderson - ATUNE Health Centres  - Sports, Remedial and Soft Tissue Injury Specialist

Paul Henderson, owner of The Elite Clinic, is a soft tissue specialist with extensive experience and expertise.

Originally an athlete, his career includes representing Australia at two World Championships, the 1994 Commonwealth Games (silver medal), the 1995 World Championships (silver medal) and the 1996 Olympic Games.

Paul has a long association with leading therapists at the Australian Institute of Sport's Injury Therapy Centre.

In addition, Paul has conducted practices both in Australia and Sweden over the last thirteen years, working as a soft tissue injury clinician specialising in ART (Active Release Techniques).

His expertise in this field has also resulted in him being an educator in ART.

ART is a manual hands on therapy which takes many years to perfect. Paul was recognised as one of Europe's leading instructors in the technique being taught to all health care practitioners such as chiropractors, physiotherapists, oestopaths, massage therapists, and exercise physiologists.

In the past eight years Paul has been working in Sweden with the revolutionary Redcord (Neurac) method, aimed specially at rehabilitation.

Paul now brings back to Australia something unique in the Redcord system. Redcord is an effective concept for training functionally. It uses body weight and slings in order to challenge the body's strength and alignment.

Redcord is a unique blend of applied scientific knowledge, patented equipment and guided specialist therapy utilised by highly skilled clinicians, such as Paul.

The Redcord suspension system is proven to be effective and safe. Bridging the gap between performance-orientated training and rehabilitation from injury is the Redcord approach. Redcord is more than just slings exercise therapy. Comprehensive knowledge of the body, exercise science and alignment underlies a unique active training method.

Redcord (Neurac) System:

Redcord (Neurac) is a treatment method for neuromuscular and neuromuscular disorders.

Redcord stands for the common thread between health care and active life. Neurac (Neuromuscular activation) is our innovative treatment method with standardised testing procedures. The method is breakthrough dynamic development in the field of therapeutic exercise in combination with suspension therapy.

Neurac is based on knowledge and scientific principles. The method is focused on optimised neuromuscular control for patients with long term musculoskeletal disorders.

It is also suitable for a variety of neurological disorders as postoperative rehabilitation.

The Neurac method aims to regain normal function movement patterns by using high levels of neuromuscular stimulation. The Redcord aim is:

  • Optimise neuromuscular control
  • Restore normal range of motion
  • Reduce or eliminate pain

Neurac has 4 main elements:

  • Closed kinetic chain ( body weight bearing exercise).
  • Perturbation - Unsteadiness-controlled instability provided by the ropes and slings. Achieved by controlled vibration applied by the Redcord stimuli.
  • Workload - precise grading of the exercises with gradual increased resistance.
  • Pain free approach - techniques are adopted to assist in a no pain treatment

Active Release Techniques:

Active Release Techniques or ART as it is known is a therapy which aims to break down scar tissue or tissue adhesion in sites of soft tissue restriction. These restrictions can be found in muscle, tendon, ligament, fascia and surrounding nerves. They can produce classic syndromes such as headaches, plantar fascitis, shin splints, ITB syndrome, back pain, shoulder rotator cuff syndrome, tennis elbow and more.

Classically these areas can become damaged through one of four major pathways:

  1. Direct Injury - such as tearing of muscle fibres or impact trauma.
  2. Hypoxia - insufficient oxygen to muscle, causing activation of
    fibroblastic cells (scar tissue producing cells).
  3. Friction - muscles are designed to slide against other tissues,
    structures, nerves, etc. Inhibition of this movement will contribute to progressive tissue adhesion.
  4. Micro-trauma - accumulation of small muscle tears over time.

What is ART treatment?

ART is different to massage therapy, physiotherapy and chiropractic care. It is a patented technique, and; probably
unlike any therapy you have been treated with previously. It can be of benefit to anyone, including athletes, office and factory workers, those trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle, in general people of all ages and conditions.

There are over 500 individual protocols unique to ART making it extremely effective and thorough as treatment for soft tissue injury and movement restriction. We combine it with
other treatments such as massage, Cupping and others to provide optimal patient outcomes.

Each ART treatment is actually a combination of assessment and treatment. A combined evaluation of the tissue texture, tension, movement, strength and function enables us to identify areas of 'abnormal' tissue. The treatment involves directed tension along the area of selected tissue combined with specific active movement through normal range of motion. This effectively 'cleans out' tissue adhesion, restoring 'normal' movement.

Paul Henderson