Why you would benefit from regular sport massage

As a sport and remedial massage practitioner it's not surprising I would recommend regular sport massage, or that I would assert how beneficial regular sport massage can be.  However through my own experiences competing in kickboxing world championships I can genuinely say that I have not felt better prepared or in better shape physically or mentally than when I was getting weekly sport massage treatments.  If I were able to I would have sports massage every other day.

Sport is not the only factor that can produce wear and tear or cause injury to the structures of the body, other factors such as occupation, illness and disability, posture and emotional stress can all play a part in the reason why people might benefit from a sport massage.  Commonly most people book in for a sport or remedial massage when they have a problem, such as an injury, general ache or pain, or are stressed and tense.  While it is true that massage is extremely beneficial for dealing with these problems you don't need to wait until they arise to benefit from a massage.  In fact through having regular sport massage you may be able to avoid or at least reduce the risk of these problems arising at all, especially when you consider how problems can gradually build up over time.  Elite athletes in particular see massage as an important part of their training programme for improving recovery and in turn improving performance.

Massage can play an important role in the development and progression of an athlete.  Whether you are aiming to compete for your country or just participate in sports for fun you should be considering regular massage treatment.  Training in general can be very intense and during training the body is placed under high loads, if you begin to train for a specific competition or event, such as a marathon, these loads and expectations of the body intensify.  You want more from your body and fast.  Massage can help to reduce this strain, improve the rate of recovery from training and reduce tension caused through training in muscles.  All of this helps to support consistent and qualitative training keeping fatigue at bay, which will in turn ensure an athlete is in the best and most optimal condition to reach peak performance.  This is all alongside

Regular massage treatments with the same practitioner will also help to identify predisposing factors to injury and treat them before they develop into a full blown injury thereby preventing injury.  Over time the practitioner will be able to judge what is normal to that particular client so that any changes in muscle tone or subtle differents will be recognised through touch and observation.  These changes are likely to be a signal or precursor to potential injury and corrective action can be taken.

But what if you aren't an athlete???  Well regular massage can still be beneficial to you, it can still help you maintain your body in the best and most optimal condition to perform your daily activities.  People from a range of occupations from drivers, office workers to jobs involving vast amounts of manual handling - care, builders to jobs standing for large periods of the day such as hairdressers can all and should get benefit from regular massage.  Even mothers looking after young children can really benefit.  Massage is also renowned for its psychological benefits.  Through touch, the warming effect of massage and reduction of muscle tension achieved, massage can promote feelings of wellbeing through creating relaxation of the body.  So if you are experiencing any stress in your job or at home a massage is a great option.

For those who have unfortunately had an injury, sport and remedial massage can be beneficial for treatment and rehabilitation.  It can help to break down scar tissue and adhesions, reordering collagen fibres in a way that enables them to be stronger and more functional - therefore helping a client to return to normal functioning.  After this initial treatment successful rehabilitation is crucial but often neglected.  If you do not return to your daily activities and/or training in a progressive way you can be leaving yourself open to reinjury.  Injury can cause wasting of muscle or tightness in other muscles through compensation - massage will help to reduce the tension in these muscles and also increase the extensibility of muscles and ligaments.  Massage will minimise reinjury and secondary injuries caused through compensation.

Massage is more effective the more regularly you have one, if a problem has built up over time it is likely to take time to correct, often one appointment won't cut it.  In the short term you could feel as though your problem has been solved but unless you also address the issues that caused the problem in the first place through stretches, strengthening and changes to posture / daily activity then the problem is highly likely to return.  Through regular treatment and following stretch and strengthening programmes these problems can hopefully be eradicated.


Your body is the greatest machine and tool you will ever own or use.  We put our cars in for MOTs and servicing but often neglect what our body needs and our body will benefit from regular sport and remedial massage.

The Role of Ice in the Prevention and Treatment of Injuries

Icing following an injury or heavy training session is something that I have always routinely done as a person involved in sport and it has been quite surprising to me as a Sport & Remedial Massage Practitioner that many of the clients I treat are not aware of the benefits and importance of icing following injury.  I have found that the majority of people when asked if they used ice following an injury said no, some of these knew they should use ice and some had no idea that they should.  So to clear up the confusion I decided to clarify why following an injury or hard training session you should be reaching for your ice pack.  

Inflammation and the Healing Process

To understand the role of ice in the prevention and treatment of injuries it always helps to have some understanding of the healing process our body will initiate following injury or trauma to soft tissues.  When an injury first occurs the body responds with inflammation.  This response is important as it signals to the body that there is a problem and sparks off the healing process with a number of cellular reactions sending neutraphils, macrophages, histamine and prostoglandin to the injury site. 

Inflammation is characterised by 

• heat, 
• swelling, 
• pain, 
• restriction in function
• redness 

These characteristics are designed to protect us from further injury and start the 'patch up' of the injured tissues.  Pain and restriction in function limit our desire and ability to continue the activity which caused injury, heat helps defend against pathogens and begins to stimulate tissue repair; and swelling is caused by the increase in blood flow and fluid to the area.

Inflammation is essential to the healing process, therefore it's important that it occurs however there are also negatives to inflammation.  If inflammation is prolonged or excessive the tissues will not strengthen and repair, healthy cells and tissues may also be targeted by cells involved in the inflammatory process causing more damage.  The body is not able to regulate the inflammatory response and rather than produce 'enough' inflammation it will keep sending more cells and fluid to the area, creating more swelling, more compression of nerves and pain.  This is where ice comes into the picture.

Ice in Reducing Inflammation

When we injure ourselves we do not want to stop the inflammation process, rather we want to reduce it and this is why the PRICE protocol advice is given.

P - Protect from further injury

R - Rest to prevent further injury and slow down bleeding

I - Ice to reduce blood flow, swelling and pain

C - Compression to stop fluid accumulation

E - Elevation allowing the blood to flow out of the area via gravity

Ice is an easy and effective way to reduce inflammation without completely stopping it and therefore allowing healing to commence whilst minimising some of the negatives of inflammation in excess.

Icing straight after an injury will help to provide the best conditions and opportinity to heal in the best time frame for the individual.  The sooner ice is applied the more effective it will be with the most benefit being felt icing within the first 20 minutes following injury or training. however it is never too late to ice.  Icing and cold will also help to prevent and reduce DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).  

Ice should be applied 3 times a day for 10-20 minutes and should also be continued to be used in the later stages of tissue repair.

Ice as a Painkiller

Not only will ice help to reduce inflammation, it also acts as a natural painkiller having an analgesic effect.  The nerves in our body prioritise the messages sent after a change in temperature higher than those sent when we experience pain, this is to prevent further damage and pain.  As our body recognises heat and cold before pain applying ice to a painful injury should help to relieve some of the pain.

Reducing the inflammation and therefore swelling through the application of ice will also mean there is less fluid in the area reducing compression to nerves which also means less pain.

Precautions and When Not To Ice

There are circumstances in which ice should not be used and also certain precautions to follow to apply ice safely.  You should not ice over an open wound or if you have poor circulation.  Any condition which may mean you have more fragile tissue or sensitivity to cold such as Raynaud's disease, cardiac conditions and diabetes, may mean that ice should be avoided.

Ice should not be applied directly to the skin but with a barrier such as a cloth or flannel in between, it must not be left on for too long, wounds must be covered and you should regularly check the affected area.

Ice Modalities

There are many modalities to apply ice or cold and what you use will depend on the best option available at the time.

• Crushed ice - will stay the coldest the longest
• Refreezable ice packs - are reusable but will absorb heat faster than crushed ice
• Instant ice packs - often absorb heat fast and don't stay cold for long
• Ice sprays or gels - are superficial and won't have as great an effect on deeper tissue

When to Heat?

Heat should not be used in an acute phase of injury or when there is swelling.  Heat will increase blood flow and send more fluid to the area which will increase compression of nerves and cause more pain.  However heat can be used after the initial inflammation has subsided, generally a couple of days after an injury.  

Alternating heat and ice treatment can be beneficial to tissue repair by 'flushing' out the area of waste products and encouraging nutrients and oxygenated blood into the area.  

Heat can be used prior to training to help loosen tissues, reduce stiffness and increase blood flow into the area.  Similar to ice modalities though heat sprays and ointments are likely to be too superficial to really stimulate the deeper tissue.