Benefits of Sports Massage

Some injuries are caused by overuse of a particular muscle. Overuse injuries often result in sore, painful and inflamed muscles. Sports massage will reduce the likelihood of the muscle becoming overused in the first place. It will reduce the initial inflammation that leads to an overuse injury. A sports massage practitioner will focus on your needs as an athlete.

Benefits of Sports massage for a runner.

• Relieving tightness/tension – obviously this is one of the main aims of a sports massage and often one of the reasons people get one. A sports massage will stretch and lengthen your muscles in a much deeper and possibly more specific way than when you stretch after your run.
• Improving blood flow – when blood flow to a particular area is increased and improved, healing can take place and so the fatigued or injured muscles are rejuvenated.
• Increasing flexibility – with increased flexibility your range of motion and the mobility in your joints will be improved. This could well then reduce the chance of an injury occurring or re-occurring.
• Breaking down scar tissue – when scar tissue is left to repair by itself it will form a criss-cross pattern rather than the healthy linear formation. Massage can be utilised to promote the healthy formation of scar tissue so that it forms in a natural, strong linear pattern. A build up of scar tissue can cause tightness and weakness in the muscles. Massage will help to break down the scar tissue, promoting correct, strong scar formation in the muscle.
• Lymphatic drainage – this helps to reduce inflammation and swelling. It can also help with the removal of lactic acid and other waste products caused by slight tears or over use in the muscle.

What to expect from a sports massage?

During the first visit you will be asked about your past medical history, the nature of the injury if you have one, and questions relating to your training and competition. If you are going for a massage when injured you will need to demonstrate actions you are or are not able to perform.

How does sports massage help to prevent injury?

A good Massage Therapist will be able to prevent injury in a number of different ways. They can identify if you are training correctly and using the correct shoes. If you are running on the camber of a road for example and you are doing it too often, this will show itself to a masseur by the imbalance and tilt of your pelvis and associated muscles. The licensed massage therapist will then be able to release the areas of tension that would otherwise develop into an injury and give you training advice. They will also recommend you how to properly do self-massage for maintenance, using tools like The Stick, Foam Rollers, massage balls and best stretching/yoga poses for your imbalance.

Massage Therapy Northeast Colorado Springs | (719) 260-5525