Sports Massage

Sports massage is a very unique form of bodywork which utilizes specific strokes and stretches that help prepare the athlete for peak performance, promote flexibility and prevent injuries. Sports massage primarily focuses on the management, maniputaion and rehabilitation of the body's soft tissues.

What are the Common Causes of Sports Injuries? Injuries are commonly experienced when someone has just started training, overstrains, fails to sufficiently warm-up, receives trauma or has muscular imbalances, poor flexibility, mineral deficiencies or inadequate endurance.

For the athlete, sports massage techniques are utilized at all stages: pre-event, post-event, during training and to expedite rehabilitation after injury.

Pre Event

Pre-event sports massage is given within the four hours preceding an event to improve performance and help decrease injuries. It is used as a supplement to an athlete's warm-up to enhance circulation and reduce excess muscle and mental tension prior to competition. It is normally shorter (10-15 minutes) than a regular conditioning massage, and focuses on warming-up the major muscles to be used, and getting the athlete in a good mental state for competition. It also improves tissue pliability, readying the athlete for top performance. Certain massage techniques can help calm a nervous athlete, and others can be stimulating.

Pre-event essential oils

• 2 drops of black pepper
• 2 drops of ginger
• 2 drops of rosemary

OR

• 1 drop of eucalyptus
• 2 drops of lemon
• 1 drop of peppermint
• 2 drops of rosemary

Remember: to dilute in 20 ml of carrier oil

Post Event

Tiny tears in the muscles are common whenever athletes exercise heavily. A sports massage one to two hours after an event relieves swelling caused by the damage and encourages blood flow to the muscles. It also helps the body remove excess lactic acid, a waste product of muscle metabolism that accumulates when muscles are stressed (lactic acid is responsible for the familiar deep muscle soreness and burning athletes often experien ce after a major event).Recovery after competition involves not only tissue normalization and repair, but also general relaxation and mental calming. Post-event massage also reduces stiffness and cramping, and helps speed recovery time.

Post-event essential oils

• 2 drops of Roman chamomile
• 1 drop of cypress
• 2 drops of frankincense
• 1 drop of juniper

OR

• 1 drop of frankincense
• 2 drops of juniper
• 2 drops of marjoram
• 1 drop of lavender

Remember: to dilute in 20 ml of carrier oil

Rehabilation Massage

Even with preventive maintenance, muscles cramp, tear, bruise, and ache. Sports massage can speed healing and reduce discomfort during the rehabilitation process.

Soft tissue techniques employed by sports massage therapists are effective in the management of both acute and chronic injuries. For example, adding lymphatic massage to the "standard care" procedure in the acute stage of injury will improve control of secondary, hypoxic injury and enhance edemous fluid removal throughout the healing cycle. Trigger point techniques reduce the spasms and pain that occur both in the injured and "compensation" muscles. Cross-fiber friction techniques applied during the subacute and maturation phases of healing improve the formation of strong and flexible repair tissue, which is vital in maintaining full pain-free range of motion during rehabilitation.

In all cases, such massage techniques are employed in collaboration with other appropriate medical care. For example, encouraging circulation around a bruise, but not directly on it, through the use of compression, cross-fiber techniques or even long, deep strokes is only used after appropriate medical referral and diagnostics indicate that there are no clots formed in the area which may embolize.

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