How can Sports Massage help your performance and recovery???

Massage for sports injuries is a great way of taking care of injuries resulting from athletic activities. Massage therapy is an integral part of athlete training and is often included in modern sports training regimens. Athletes and trainers believe that regular therapeutic massages can provide the extra edge required for high performance sportsmen and women. It has become a necessary ingredient for an athlete to help avoid sports injuries and for optimum performance. However, sports injuries are part of being a high performance athlete and massage for sports injuries has become an increasingly popular alternative therapy for the treatment of these injuries.

Regular exercise increases muscular endurance and strength, improves flexibility and respiratory function and enhances heart efficiency. The body adapts gradually to the demand of physical activities. This is as a result of conditioning. Conditioning involves three phases: the tearing down phase where the body is pushed to its limit; the recovery phase where the body rebuilds itself, and, lastly, the build-up phase where the systems adapt to the new demands placed on the body. Massage for sports injuries is a particularly effective way of dealing with the injuries that occur in the tearing down phase.

Massage for sports injuries not only concentrates on sports injuries that have occurred, but can also help prevent injuries. Massage for sports injuries can, therefore, be administered before conditioning training as part of the regular workout regime. This helps to prevent injuries during training and should be administered after a warm up session. Massage for sports injuries can also help to prevent common injuries when administered after a strenuous training session as it helps to return the muscles to their relaxed state.

Massage for sports injuries is usually employed in the treatment of sprains and strains. Massage is also used in the treatment of sports injuries that are commonly known as trigger points. “Trigger points” are not bruises but are commonly thought of as knots in the muscles, or points of tension. Trigger points are painful to the touch. Massage for sports injuries help relieve the tension in these knots by helping to relax the muscle groups involved.

Several techniques are applied in an effective massage for sports injuries depending on the type of injury. The rhythmic compression of muscle groups is used in the creation of deep hyperemia. It also has the effect of softening the tissues and is used in warming the body up for a deeper massage. Friction techniques are also used, which can broaden and stretch larger muscle groups. These techniques are also used on connective tissue. The application of deep transverse friction helps improve the healing process in the muscles as well as connective tissue.

Trigger point pressure is relieved through thumb or finger pressure techniques. These techniques are effective for the reduction of hypersensitivity, pain and muscle spasms that are experienced at trigger points. This can help prevent a future injury because it will prevent the athlete from instinctively favoring one limb over the other due to painful trigger points, and from other knee-jerk reactions while on the field or track. Massage allows athletes to heal faster from injuries by improving circulation to the injured area. Massage also increases flexibility and the range of motion of athletes, reducing the occurrence of injuries.

Source: Pacific College of Oriental Medicince