SPORTS MASSAGE AND REHABILITATION
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McFarland and associates (2002) define sports massage as a form of massage therapy that is specifically directed at the muscles used in athletic activities. Techniques are said to be comprised of quick and vigorous strokes including deep tissue or localized parts of the body where a given activity may have caused exertion of muscle tightness. The authors report that sports massage has some clear benefits including: reducing the chance of future injuries to the area through proper stretching and event preparation, and through deep tissue massage; improving the range of motion and muscle flexibility resulting in improved power and performance; shortening recovery time between workouts; maximizing the supply of nutrients and oxygen through increased blood flow, and enhancing the elimination of the metabolic by-products of exercise. It is further noted by McFarland and associates (2002) that sports massage has several uses. These include: helping athletes prepare for upcoming events, assisting them during actual sports events such as during time-out periods, and rehabilitation which is to say helping them recover form some form of injury. The purpose of this paper is to examine sports massage as used for rehabilitative purposes. To this end, various techniques and their uses are examined as well as some empirical work on the general effectiveness of sports massage for rehabilitation purposes. Sports Massage Techniques and Their
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uce hypersensitivity, muscle spasms and referred pain patterns that characterize the point. Hess et. al (2001) point out that this technique is a very important element of rehabilitation massage because if these areas are left untreated, they can often lead to restricted and painful movement of entire body regions.
5. Lympathic massage, which is stimulation of specialized lymphatic-drainage pathways in order to improve the bodyÆs removal of edemas and effusion.
One point that needs to be made here is that each sport and/or athletic event requires that muscles be used in different ways. Clay and Pounds (2003) point out that in order for rehabilitation massage to be maximally effective, sports massage therapists need a strong familiarity with each muscle, the various muscle groups and the ways in which these are affected by specific movements and stress. In many cases, effectiveness also requires the conjoint use of sports massage with hydrotherapy and cryotherapy.
Effectiveness of Sports Massage for Rehabilitation
As noted by Ylinen and Cash (2000), there has not been a great deal of research specifically aimed at the effectiveness of sports massage for rehabilitation purposes. However, a comprehensive study of the use of spo
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Introduction McFarland, Shea Tugwell, Ylinen Cash, Point/Tender Massage, Conclusions Based, Hume Maxwell, Galloway Watt, Clay Pounds, Beck Miller, sports massage, Compression Massage, sports massage rehabilitation, massage rehabilitation, deep transverse friction, transverse friction, deep transverse, effectiveness sports, effectiveness sports massage, massage therapy, rehabilitation purposes, ylinen cash, massage rehabilitation purposes, ylinen cash 2000, miller 2001, friction massage,
Approximate Word count = 1219
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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