Injury rehabilitation & Sports Massage

It is very important to understand any injuries, current or old, before setting about a resumption of training. Poor rehabilitation can lead to further injury down the line as a muscle or joint not “carrying their weight” can lead to other areas of the body succumbing to overuse injuries as they bear the extra load.

As a sports therapist Matthew cannot diagnose injuries but can design and carry out rehabilitation programmes once the nature of the injury is determined. Remedial methods such as flexibility or range of movement training, strengthening and proprioceptive (Balance) work, and sports massage are all integral to this process.

Sports Massage is the manipulation, management and rehabilitation of muscles, ligaments and tendons to enhance performance, be it functional every day tasks or engaging in strenuous physical activity and sport. Whilst muscles will benefit from the removal of scar tissue caused by wear and tear or old injuries, there is much more going on beneath the surface to assist in the body’s function:

• Improved flexibility and, thus, range of movement
• Increased muscle tone
• Sedate troublesome nerve endings for those in pain or stimulate nerve endings for numbing injuries
• Encourage the removal of metabolic and lymphatic (toxin) waste.

For the majority of people, sports massage is used in the rehabilitation of injuries. As muscles, tendons or ligaments heal they do so in a way that simply allows it to function at a base level. However any kind of strain on the soft tissue will often cause re-injury. Using massage in addition to rehabilitation exercises means tissues repair correctly, speeding up recovery and one’s return to pre-injured state.

Ask Matthew about any advice you may need on old injuries or current discomforts and a training programme can be tailored to suit the needs of any rehabilitation you might be going through.