Sports Massage Therapy

29/08/2018

01/08/2018

Painfree movement is key to full recovery. It will aid in decreasing joint stiffness. 6 days on from injury, not much movement at mo so that means loads of room for improvement
Rehabilitating an injury is like a pint of Guinness, it can't be rushed, you have to be patient. it's all about the end result.

28/07/2018

27/07/2018

The first 24-48 hours are possibly the most crucial stage of getting ontop of an injury. Here is a ankle (suspected lateral ligament) injury in the first 24 hours. X-ray confirmed no broken bones, due to swelling no other tests could be done.
This is my own injury. Testing no ice theory. Ice has been talked about alot recently to slow down recovery so I have replaced it with CryoDerm. This is the result for day 1. I am very impressed.
- serious reduction in throbbing pain
-accompanied with compression and elevation swelling was under control and reduced

Pic 1 - 5 are from hour one to hour 24

06/05/2018

Ankle Stability progression exercises during the early stages of injury. These are basic exercises any1 can do at home. No equipment needed.
After acute stage of injury has passed, inflammation has reduced and mobility is pain free then start your ankle rehabilitation.

30/03/2018

Trying hard to improve my hip movements/mobility. Give it a go, not as easy as it looks.

29/03/2018

Thoracic and lumbar spine movements. Improve mobility. Part of abody assessment and maintenance 20 hours after a training session. Check for any injury, weakness or to improve spinal mobility and rotation. Good spinal movement can result and aid in better performance.

29/03/2018

During maintenance or recovery it is important to highlight not only the tight muscles but also the opposite weak muscles. We need to work on both for best lasting results.
Release tight muscles and strengthen weak muscles.

-Yoga strap is great for stretching out tight muscles.

-Resistant bands are great during recovery or maintenance to build up weak muscles. *Resistant bands should not be used in stretching*

Example - If bicep (flexor) is tight then triceps are weak. Stretch out bicep 1st to strengthen triceps.

02/02/2018

To use ice for injury or not?

This is an ongoing debate in the field of injury. For years and still mostly today the first reaction for most people when they injury an area of the body, for example the ankle, is to apply ice. This is definitely better than just doing noting. Below is a very brief view and just a few pro's and cons of using ice and my now preferred approach to soft tissue and joints of the body following an acute injury.

Pro's:
- reduce inflammation by reducing blood flow
-reduce bleeding in the area
-can relieve pain

Cons:
-Slows down the body's natural healing process
- Most people won't know how long and often to ice an area for which can lead to further injury to the area

As a lot of people would of heard of the RICE procedure ( rest, ice, compression & elevation) when suffering a sudden acute injury. This is effective and is a great general guide to follow.
What I have been hearing a lot about is a possible substitute for ice. As I have mentioned briefly there are some pro's and cons of using ice. What I as a sports therapist would like to target is reducing the cons to benefit the athlete and start them on road to recovery immediately.
A person who, for example turns badly on their ankle or twists a knee will normally feel pain, and they will immediately look to reduce this pain. Ice can do this by causing a numbing affect to the area.
Pain is the bodies way of telling us that something is wrong. The body will then follow with it's own natural healing process and we see this in inflammation. Inflammation is an important part of the bodies recovery. It is the bodies way of cleaning up this damaged area. Swelling can cause pain which reminds us to be careful of the area and it can restrict the area to protect it from further damage. More often than not we want to stop swelling from happening, when really we should just look to try and control swelling.
To get the same results as ice (pain relief and control swelling) without delaying the bodies natural healing process, I am using analgesic gels such as Cryoderm or Biofreeze. These relieve pain by causing a cooling affect but unlike ice do not cause a reducing in blood flow to the area. What I tend to do now for an immediate acute injury is too apply the gel to the area, lightly compress the area with a wrapping (elastic bandage), elevate and rest. The gel will act as a pain reliever (which is the effect the injured person wants from using ice) without affecting blood flow, the light compression will help control inflammation but not stop it completely (something like clingfilm is useful everyday product to use for this, wrap very light and if too tight after a while re-wrap area lighter again), elevate to aid in pain relief (reduce throbbing feeling) and inflammation control (to much fluid to the area) and finally rest. Rest is needed for the body to recover. Pain free movements should start as soon as possibly so as to reduce loss of mobility in the area.

This was written up from my own research from various articles and also my personal hands on experience with acute injuries. If anyone has any thoughts or comments from there own experiences on this topic feel free to comment.✌

28/01/2018

Client after one session of massage therapy. Worked on quadriceps and pelvis muscles (mainly psaos) and using some specific techniques we were able to release soft tissues, improve range of movement and reduce lower back pain.