April 2004 | Vol. 5, No. 4
© 2004 American Massage Therapy Association®
All rights reserved.
Hello, e-touch reader!
With the weather warming up, thoughts turn to outdoor recreational activities. But each year, sports-related activities cause thousands of injuries. Even amateur athletes can be sidelined from nagging, chronic injuries that keep them from participating in activities they love.
This is where massage therapy can play a pivotal role, helping athletes prevent such injuries from occurring. Learn how a trained massage therapist can help you keep enjoying your favorite sporting activities for years to come.
Enjoy the issue!
The
Editors
E-mail: etouch@amtamassage.org
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Editor’s Note:
The
information in the following article is meant to show how sports massage can
be a useful tool in preventing injuries.
However, massage therapists who specialize in this need to
have a sports massage knowledge-base, such as mechanism of injury, sport
biomechanics, injury evaluation and testing techniques, etc. The techniques
described in this article are effective, but only when applied properly and
in the right situation. Massage therapists without proper training can best
“help their clients” by referring them to a sports massage therapist. To
locate a massage therapist with a sports-related background, check out
AMTA’s Find a Massage Therapist®
national locator service.
PREVENTING SPORTS-RELATED INJURIES: HOW YOUR MASSAGE THERAPIST CAN HELP
By William Ron McKnight
Participation in recreational sports activities is a huge part of American culture. Activities such as basketball, baseball, soccer, jogging, biking, golfing or weightlifting all contribute to overall health and fitness. Yet with any physical activity, the risk of bodily injury is inherent. This is where massage therapy can help—not only by aiding in recovery of a sports-related injury, but by helping reduce the symptoms of repetitive stress as well.
Just look at the statistics: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 715,000 sports and recreation injuries occur each year in school settings alone. And such injuries are also a leading reason people stop participating in a potentially beneficial physical activity. The CDC also estimates that more than 10,000 people receive treatment in the nation’s emergency departments each day for injuries sustained in sports-related activities. Furthermore, at least one of every five emergency room visits is for an injury that resulted from participation in sports or recreation.
Massage For Prevention
By its very definition, “to prevent” means to come before or stop the occurrence of something from happening. When it comes to repetitive injury, it stands to reason that if repetitive stress is acknowledged, then a proactive stance can be taken to stop the occurrence from happening. In this stage, athletes may be affected by repetitive stress, yet they may fail to acknowledge it. In some cases, they aren’t even aware of its existence.
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Getty Images A massage therapist with the proper training can be an asset to any athlete's regular training program. |
A minor complaint—whether its onset is traumatic or from repetitive use—that goes untreated may become more problematic and decrease the ability to train at an optimal level, thereby affecting the level of performance. If left unattended, a minor complaint, such as symptoms of repetitive stress, can develop into a more serious injury which may require refraining from activity altogether. At this point, the injury will often require more aggressive forms of treatment. A competent sports massage therapist will be able to evaluate a complaint, and determine the appropriate level and type of care required. An experienced sports massage therapist will also be able to refer a client to other health-care professionals (such as orthopedic surgeons, podiatrists, athletic trainers and physical therapists) who will assist in the prevention or rehabilitation of an injury, and most likely reduce the risk of recurrence.
Athletic trainers have sought to stop repetitive-use injuries from occurring by stretching and modifying training routines. Still, many athletes, especially less skilled ones, manage to suffer repetitive stress injuries primarily due to improper technique. For many athletes, identifying preclinical injury is not part of their approach to training. Therefore they are typically unaware of the sub-clinical symptoms of repetitive stress. As a result, athletes continue to train and stress their bodies in ways which may lead to clinical injury (when medical intervention is necessary). These two factors give rise to the need for an additional approach to injury prevention.
This is where massage therapy can play a pivotal preventive role. Palpation is a skill learned in massage therapy schools that can be developed through further study to aid massage therapists in gaining a perspective of preclinical injury. This skill, along with special evaluation tests and techniques may help identify such problems.
Once these preclinical stresses are uncovered, the massage therapist can make a clinical record so the athlete and/or trainer will have a reference point. This allows massage therapists, athletes, trainers, coaches and the whole team to use the findings to change the respective routines.
The Techniques
Massage therapists are armed with physical assessment skills, as well as palpation and treatment skills. Regular appointments with a trained professional may alleviate many of the assessed stressors before they become clinical in nature. A massage therapist using tactile skills may employ many different types of massage to resolve and prevent repetitive injuries from occurring.
Sports massage therapists are familiar with each muscle, the muscle groups and how they are affected by the specific movements and stresses of each sport. The following are some modalities that can be used:
§ Deep Swedish Massage
Muscle-specific applications of the standard effleurage, petrissage
vibration, and tapotement techniques.
§
Compression Massage
Rhythmic compression into muscles used to create a deep hypremia and
softening effect in the tissues. It is generally used as a warm-up for
deeper, more specific massage work.
§ Cross-Fiber Massage
Friction techniques applied in a general manner to create a stretching and
broadening effect in large muscle groups; or on site-specific muscle and
connective tissue, deep transverse friction applied to reduce adhesions and
to help create strong, flexible repair during the healing process.
§
Trigger Point/Tender Point Massage
Combined positioning and specific finger or thumb pressure into
trigger/tender points in muscle and connective tissue, to reduce the
hypersensitivity, muscle spasms and referred pain patterns that characterize
the point. Left untreated, such trigger/tender points often lead to
restricted and painful movement of entire body regions.
§
Lymphatic Massage
Stimulation of specialized lymphatic-drainage pathways, which improves the
body’s removal of edema and effusion.
All athletes look for an edge that can help them train more effectively, perform better (even if it’s just for fun) or overcome injuries quickly, and massage therapy can play a key role in meeting those goals.
Remember, whether you participate in sports or you are the massage therapist treating the athlete, sports-related injuries can sometimes be prevented.
– William Ron McKnight is a massage therapist in Connecticut, and sports massage is one of his specialties. He served on the 1990 Goodwill Games Medical Staff, and is currently a board member of the American Massage Therapy Association. He can be contacted at ronmassage@hotmail.com.
Regular sports massage can:
- reduce the chance of injury, by relieving stress points in muscles, before they result in restrictions or spasm;
- improve range of motion and muscle flexibility, resulting in improved power and performance;
- shorten recovery time between workouts;
- maximize the supply of nutrients and oxygen through increased blood flow;
- facilitate the body’s regular processes for recovery from exercise;
- decrease performance anxiety and sharpen mental focus.
Sources:
Sports Massage Brochure: The Athlete’s & Athletic Trainer’s Edge
© Copyright 2001 - American Massage Therapy Association
Regular sports massage can:
- reduce the chance of injury, by relieving stress points in muscles, before they result in restrictions or spasm;
- improve range of motion and muscle flexibility, resulting in improved power and performance;
- shorten recovery time between workouts;
- maximize the supply of nutrients and oxygen through increased blood flow;
- facilitate the body’s regular processes for recovery from exercise;
- decrease performance anxiety and sharpen mental focus.
Sources:
Sports Massage Brochure: The Athlete’s & Athletic Trainer’s Edge
© Copyright 2001 - American Massage Therapy Association
MASSAGE THERAPY: KEY QUESTION AND ANSWER
Q: What is the difference between certification, licensing and accreditation?
A: Differentiating between these credentials when applied to individual massage therapists or institutions can be confusing. Essentially, is professional certification uses a formal process to identify and acknowledge individuals who have met a recognized standard. Usually this standard includes education, experience, and an exam of knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the job. When an individual meets the standard, he or she receives certification from a certifying agency.
Licensure is a nonvoluntary process by which an agency of government regulates a profession. It grants permission to an individual to engage in an occupation if it finds that the applicant has attained the degree of competency required to ensure the public health, safety, and welfare will be reasonably protected.
Accreditation is a nongovernmental, voluntary process that evaluates educational institutions, agencies and programs, (i.e., institutions that grant certificates or diplomas) while certification and licensing involves individual practitioners.
For a more detailed description of these terms, check out AMTA’s Web site.
CHECK OUT AMTA’S REVAMPED WEB SITE!
Have you seen the new look, the ease of navigation, the new features? AMTA has completely redesigned the entire front end of the Web site to make it easy for you to find the information you need about massage, whether you are a massage therapist, health-care practitioner or a consumer.
There is something for everyone! There are more related links and research information than ever before, and an AMTA shopping mall will open soon!
Visit it today and come back often! We will be providing more features in the near future.
FIND A PROFESSIONAL MASSAGE THERAPIST
Use AMTA’s Find a Massage Therapist® national locator service to locate a qualified AMTA Professional-category member anywhere in the United States. This service will direct you to professionals who are well-trained, adhere to a professionally recognized code of ethics and standards of practice, and are committed to continuing their professional education and development. Visit the locator service online today or call toll-free at 888-THE-AMTA [843-2682].
If you have a friend, coworker or relative who could benefit from using the online locator service to find a professional massage therapist, send them a personal E-mail message from AMTA. Spread the benefits of massage!
Get that knot out of your neck...
There's no one around to help you get the knot out of your neck. You've been sitting at the computer for entirely too long. What are you to do?
Keep a small towel in the office for just this occasion. Wet the towel and microwave for 1 ½ minutes on high. Reach in very carefully to see if it's hot enough. Wrap the towel around your neck and sit back for a minute. Once comfortably sitting, begin to stretch your neck by lowering your head for 10 seconds in each of these positions: forward, left, and right. Remove the towel, take the palms of both hands and rub in a circular motion on both sides of the neck for 30 seconds.
Tien Campbell
Raleigh, North Carolina
For a different massage tip each week, visit AMTA’s Massage Room.
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