Sports massage is NOT just for sports people!!
"Sports Massage? That's for sports people right?"
Short answer......
NO
I know I would be confused too. It is called sports massage after all! But believe it or not sports massage can be for anybody. In fact arguably it may be great for problems that sports people don't usually suffer from.
"Arh, you mean aches and pains etc?"
Well, yes, but not just this.
For example, it can lower stress, according to research done by Cady and Jones in 1997. Stress is linked to lots of health issues from IBS to high blood pressure, increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, hair loss, skin conditions etc. etc.
Another effect of sports massage is that it can lower high blood pressure, which is literally a killer but I bet you never thought of going to have a sports massage for high blood pressure now did you?
If all this wasn't enough, we continue into further benefits....
Reduces depression and anxiety (Moyer et al 2008)
Just look at the little guy, this could be you, chilled out and taking a break from the world's constant whirlwind. It's simply no wonder that sports massage can reduce depression, and anxiety.
....No brainer!
Now considering the biggest risk factor to get neck pain is actually stress then this a obvious. Massage reduces pain and tenderness in mechanical neck injury.
So what about lower back pain, seems as it's so common and so debilitating in today's society?
No worries, the research has also covered this too and guess what, there is definite evidence to show that it can help back pain.
WINNER!
So what about other chronic pain conditions such as Fibromyalgia?
So, it is strongly recommended for pain management in chronic pain conditions (Crawford et al 2016) and moreover it has improved many other aspects of life including pain in Fibromyalgia according to multiple studies.
Now before we go onto the sports side of things, we have a not so secret, secret.....
FREE SPORTS MASSAGE
(see below for conditions)
So if you are sporting and want to know how sports massage can benefit you, then here you go:
Sports massage can be divided into 4 categories relating to the reason for its application.
General preventative sports massage – the application of deep massage to give relaxation to any muscles that are found to be holding excessive tension, as tense muscle are more liable to become injured.
Remedial sports massage – the application of massage to assist the recovery of particular injuries or specific problem areas.
Pre-event warm up massage – short and vigorous massage to get the blood flowing within the muscles, applied before the event starts.
Recuperative sports massage – to soothe tired and aching muscles after events or hard training to aid their recovery.
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