Sports massage Essay Example
Sports massage Essay Example

Sports massage Essay Example

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  • Pages: 6 (1418 words)
  • Published: July 17, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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I believe that sports massage is one of the most effective therapies for releasing muscle tension and restoring balance to the muscular skeletal system. If you have a constant build in tension in your muscles form ordinary or regular activity, this may lead to stresses on the joints, ligaments, tendons as well as muscles themselves. Sports massage is usually very specific and concentrates mainly on the area of the body that requires the attention. Some techniques that are used may feel uncomfortable and you may also experience a little discomfort afterwards until your body has settled from the treatment.

All sportsmen suffer from all types of injuries throughout their careers, for example footballers and swimmers. Firstly the most common injury footballers suffer from is hamstring injury; it can be eith

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er a torn hamstring or a hamstring strain. The hamstring muscle is a group of large muscles that are found at the back of your thigh. The hamstrings function is to extend the hip joint and flex the knee joint, when you get a pulled hamstring this is a tear of the hamstring muscle fibres.

Muscle tears and strains most commonly occur because of something called an eccentric contraction, this is when the muscle is trying to contract and another force is forcing in the opposite direction, this just puts on too much strain on the muscle an if it is too strong it will tear the muscle fibres. Sometimes you may get a pulled hamstring while warming up or stretching, this would be because you have low flexibility in your hamstring. If you have poor flexibility in your muscles this will lead to injuries. When you tea

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your muscle this means that that your muscle will shorten and get tighter.

You may also get minor hamstring problems this is a microscopic tear in your muscles which is cause by muscle fibres stretching to far and some bleeding may occur within the muscle. If we look at a real life example if you're a quick person and during play you go for a sprint without stretching your muscles too much, you will pull your hamstring because of the muscle fibres not being stretched or warmed up properly which leads to the muscle not being able to handle the sudden force being used. It is more likely to find hamstring injuries on fast players.

When we look at swimmers their most common injuries are found in their shoulders. Swimmers shoulder is and inflammatory condition caused by the mechanical impingement of soft tissues. This condition is most often caused by the repetitive overhead arm motion of the freestyle stroke. The pain associated with the swimmers shoulder may cause by two different sources of impingement in the shoulder. Swimmers may feel shoulder pain from many reasons; firstly I can say poor swimming technique, this is a main reason why swimmer may feel shoulder pain.

A second reason may be that the swimmer is training too much and constantly using the tiring muscles. This is because as the muscles being to tire they will work less efficient and effectively and this may lead to 2 negative outcomes. Firstly the muscle may need to wok harder when it is weakened and secondly the swimmer may need to do more strokes to cover the same distance, which is overusing already fatigued muscles.

Things we need to be aware to treat patients safely and efficiently, therapist must be aware of contraindications surrounding treatment. A contraindication in sport massage is where the massage should not be carried out.

If the massage is carried out, this can sometimes further damage the injury. Massage should be carried out if in the short or long-term effect the therapist or the clients i. e. skin disease or a skin disorder, cuts or warts. If the client has any of these orders the therapists should not carry out the therapy because these diseases may be passed on from the client to the therapist. The contraindications to massage our body temperature of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or feeling unwell, cuts and abrasions, skin disease or disorders, warts or skin tags, recent or extensive bruising, or recent operations.

There are many other contraindications to massage including bone fractures, swollen, hot or painful joints, cancer epilepsy and diabetes. However, diabetes's not strictly in contraindication but it should be advised that massage has the same effect as exercise on the clients blood sugar levels, and so therefore the appropriate medication that is needed should be available to hand. I will choose the hamstring injury from task one and talk about a strategy for a client that is suffering from this injury.

The first treatment that should be done to the client is the R. I. C. E schedule. This stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. There will be a possibility of bleeding and swelling will also occur so the athlete should no longer take part in the activity. If the athletes returns to the event it may cause further damage

to the hamstring causing haemorrhage, this will prolong the recovery from the injury. The hamstring will have to be rested for 2-3 days; you should be applying the R. I. C. E. treatment. Using a pack of ice, apply to the injured area to decrease the swelling and stop the bleeding and also stop the pain.

This should be applied for the first 24 hours. Finally elevate the injured hamstring above the level of the heart. This will also help to reduce bleeding and swelling. If the pain hasn't settled after 2-3 days you may need to get crutches when walking. If the pain continues to stay the same, medical attention is need. The long term treatment for a hamstring can involve sports therapy. This will be really useful; it will help speed up the recovery of the muscle. There are 2 categories of massage that are predominantly used for clients that are involved in the activity or sport.

Almost all the massage techniques push the pressure towards the heart, this makes sure that no excessive pressure of blood is being pushed against closed valves causing damage to the blood vessels. The only time that the pressure will be pushed away from the hear is when the aim of the massage is to stretch the muscle fibres and this doesn't cause damage because the stokes are limited which means there is no possibility of pressure building up. The best massage to use for a pulled hamstring would be effleurage.

This would be because there is less pressure being used and this would prevent any discomfort and damage to the muscle. Whereas Petrisage uses more pressure and there for

may cause discomfort. Effleurage consists of a variety of stroking movements using the palm of your hand; effleurage is always used at the start and end of a massage session. Effleurage had many purposes; it introduces the touch to the client making the client fell at ease, warming the tissues, increasing the blood flow, stimulating peripheral nerves and muscle relaxation.

Petrisage is another massage technique this should only be applied to the client after a few massage sessions so that the pressure being built up to the hamstring can be built up slowly. Petrisage is used on deeper tissues for mobilising fluids, stretching muscle fibres, and brining and feeling of relaxation. Pestisage can be carried out with finger tips, both hands and even one hand. In massage there are different types of medium, these provide therapist with more ways to carry out a massage.

Swedish massage is usually performed with talcum powder, and this applied with cotton wool on top of the area being massaged. The aim of the talcum powder is to side hands over the client with deep pressure. Oils massage is different to talcum powder massages; talcum powder allows the therapist to slide hands over the client, while oil helps distances the client from the therapist, in the way that the therapist hands can continuously slide away.

These mediums are different and so some movements or massage techniques have to be carried out in different ways. The ideal treatment environment would be a quiet room and relaxing tones of paint being used with dimmed lights and relaxing music being played in the background. If any client is to be treated, they ill need to fill

out a confidential medical form. This is so the therapist knows the medical history of the client and see if the client is able to proceed with the treatment.

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