In sports, it’s considered normal to get injured from time to time. However, while most injuries are not long-lasting and shouldn’t be a problem. Scraping a knee or cutting your hand a small amount isn’t a big issue, but some injuries require further treatment. These are the injuries that are most commonly treated with sports massage.
Sports massage is a type of deep tissue therapy. It helps increase the blood flow and circulation to the injured area and this will reduce swelling, ease pain, and boost recovery. It’s important that sports massage be performed only by a trained therapist.
Sprained Ankle
When the ligaments around the ankle are stretched or torn, this causes a sprained ankle. It’s one of the most common injuries in sports and can result in pain and swelling. When you first sprain your ankle, it’s best to elevate it and apply ice within the first 48 hours. A compression bandage may help to reduce swelling.
After a week or two, you can receive a massage where the therapist will apply pressure around the ligament, and massage surrounding muscles to help the area recover.
Knee Injuries
Any sport that involves running and high impact sports like football, cycling, or basketball can result in an injury to the knee. The two types of knee issues that are commonly treated with sports massage are runner’s knee and lateral ligament strain. The first is when the knee is overused, which causes the cartilage below the kneecap to weaken. With sports massage, it’s possible to strengthen the muscles to help protect the knee.
Sports massage also helps reduce the scar tissue built up around a lateral ligament when it is damaged. The massage works to re-align the ligament tissues and relax muscles to ease the pain.
Strained Hamstring
The hamstrings are required to flex your knee and keep the hips straight. Sports like football and rugby tend to use the hamstring and can cause it to become strained. If this happens, sports massage makes it easier to heal the strained muscles and reduce pain.
While there are a number of sports injuries that massage can help, these three are some of the most likely to occur. You can help prevent them by ensuring that you warm your body up before exercising and keep your muscles warm throughout the sport.
If you are injured, contact Hillsborough Chiropractic and schedule a sports massage to help relieve the pain and speed up your recovery time.
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