SPORTS MASSAGE
What is Sports Massage?
Sports Massage Therapy is a great way of staying on top of aches and pains by making sure that muscle tightness don’t build up and lead to possibly injuries. It can also help ensure that soreness from training, or day to day activities don’t build up and lead to imbalances or worsening pain.
Deep tissue massage is often used in sports massage, as it means we can get deeper into the muscles and fascia that surround them. It can sometimes cause some discomfort during your treatment, but it will be worth it afterwards. However, your therapist will constantly communicate with you to make sure the pressure is comfortable or what you prefer.
Our fully qualified and insured therapists may use a variety of different techniques to ensure you get the best care and outcome from your treatments. This might include deep tissue massage, myofascial release, trigger-point therapy, joint mobilisation techniques, advanced stretching techniques like MET (muscle energy techniques), and dry cupping.
We’ve included some explanations of some of these techniques below…
Trigger Point Therapy
Trigger points are hypersensitive areas found in contracted bands of skeletal muscle fibres muscle fascia that are painful on compression. They are also known as muscle ‘knots’ and are nodules that can produce sensations of tenderness or twitching when touched or compressed. Trigger points can often cause referred pain. A good example of this is a trigger point in the shoulder causing headaches or arm pain.
Trigger points are often released with sustained pressure, which works to restrict the oxygen supply to the area, as well as causing a neurological effect on the central nervous system to cause the relaxation of the sustained local muscle contraction. Medical acupuncture is also very effective and specific at releasing trigger points.
Myofascial Release
Myofascial Release is a specialised type of massage used for the effective treatment and recovery of soft tissue and fascial tension and restrictions. The word Myofascia is derived from the Greek word ‘myo’ meaning muscle and ‘fascia’ meaning band.
Fascia surrounds, fills, and protects every tissue, tendon, muscle, bone, ligament, and organ of your body. It is the connective tissue that holds the body together. In an ideal condition, the fascial system is relaxed and wavy in shape. In a system that is causing aches, pain and restriction the fascia has lost its pliability and is dehydrated, hard and restricted. Myofascial Release is a specialised treatment that releases those restrictions, enabling those affected areas to become soft and mobile.
Dry Cupping
Cupping involves the suction and lifting of your soft tissues like muscle and fascia. The cupping tool creates a vacuum which sucks the soft tissue up and draws blood into the muscle and facia within the cup. This is what can create the dark circles following treatment as the blood remains in the top layer of the skin for a few days after treatment.
The process of cupping has a similar effect to a deep tissue massage because it helps to penetrate deep layers of our soft tissue. Due to tissue movement and increased circulation to the area, it helps to start an inflammatory response which helps to heal our body. Cupping helps to separate layers of soft tissue to improve mobility of soft tissue which can aid in improved physical performance and day to day comfort.
Dry cupping has many of the benefits of other soft tissue therapies, which include:
- Increased circulation – delivery of new blood to treatment areas and removal of toxins
- Influences inflammation and the healing process – speeds up recovery
- Reduces stress and tension – improve pain levels and benefit your mental health
- Helps reduce myofascial adhesions/trigger points
- Post-exercise recovery
- Injury management