What is Sports Massage?
Sports Massage/Soft or Deep Tissue Massage is the assessment and treatment of soft tissue and joint dysfunction and pain. It is aimed at treating a specific problem, rather than a relaxing top to toe holistic massage. So you don’t actually need to have done any sport to need one. One of the most common conditions I treat is actually low back pain. At your first session you will have a full assessment of the problem area, including analysis of range of movement and postural analysis. A treatment plan will then be agreed upon, and consent obtained. A treatment plan will be agreed and massage will commence.
Aside from massage, it may be appropriate to use trigger points, MET’s (Muscle Energy Techniques) and/or STR (Soft Tissue Release). These techniques are aimed at improving the range in the muscle or connective tissue and reducing pain. At the end of the session you will be reassessed and advised on stretches and strengthening exercises to help reduce the incidence of re-injury.
Sports massage is also used pre and post sport. You may have a big race coming up and want a massage before the event to act as an adjunct to your warm up, or be in pain/discomfort post race and need massage to help you function again. It could be some days after the event that you notice a problem and sports massage can work to diagnose and aid the healing process.
Benefits of massage:
Improved tissue elasticity,
Stretching,
Circulatory benefits with increased tissue permeability,
Breaking down scar tissue,
Pain reduction
Invigorating and energising