Chapter 5: Massage Therapy for Sports Injuries 4 CE Hours
By: John Vinacci Learning objectives List 12 massage techniques that can help rehabilitate or prevent sports injuries. Describe the manner in which each massage technique is performed. List 14 general terms associated with sports injuries. Summarize each of the general terms to include symptoms of bodily conditions. Identify the conditions that contraindicate massage therapy. Course overview Athletes as a group are particularly vulnerable to injuries and dysfunctions that arise from physical exertion. Unlike the average person who may exercise daily as a means of staying healthy, athletes exercise vigorously for extended periods of time. In some cases, an athlete may train for up to four hours a day depending upon their particular sport. As such, athletes are likely to suffer an injury at some point during their training due to the high levels of stress they place upon their bodies. Naturally, athletes also become injured by participating in their chosen sport, but injuries may occur at any time, such as during an athlete’s warm- up session or even during non-training activities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, two out of every ten professional athletes will suffer an injury that requires professional treatment. Massage therapy is becoming increasingly popular with injured athletes due to a number of current studies that indicate massage therapy shortens recovery and injury time. It is also now generally accepted that massages can help prepare the
List 14 conditions associated with sports injuries. Define each of the specific conditions to include its symptoms. Discuss which massage techniques are most effective for each condition. Provide any self-care techniques that may help rehabilitate these conditions. body for greater exertion and help prevent injuries before they occur by relaxing heavily used muscles that have lost the ability to contract effectively. As a supplement to training programs, massage therapy can help athletes avoid common, general injuries such as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS); help them recuperate more quickly from sports-specific injuries such as runner’s knee; and help athletes feel calmer, which may allow them to become more focused. This course is designed to familiarize massage therapists with the techniques most commonly used to treat sports injuries, the general terminology associated with sports injuries, the most common sports injuries, the anatomy and physiology involved, and the sports each injury is usually associated with. The course also reviews several tips for helping athletes avoid specific injuries. In several instances, learners will discover that massage therapy is contraindicated given the specifics of an athlete’s condition.
SECTION I: MASSAGE TECHNIQUES FOR SPORTS INJURIES
This section reviews the massage techniques that are the most effective and most often used to treat sports injuries. A single technique may be used during the course of one session, though in most cases, the application of multiple techniques will help heal an injury more quickly. This section contains descriptions for the general application of Counter Torque Twisting, Cross Counter torque twisting This technique is primarily used to realign large muscle groups of the limbs such as the biceps or quadriceps, or realign muscle groups around an injured joint such as the elbow or knee. Massage therapists should be careful not to perform this technique on the site of the injury; instead, they should use medium pressure (or pressure tolerable to the client) without lubricant, grasp the fleshy areas of a limb above and below the injury. Then, slowly rotate each hand in an opposite direction from the other hand around the axis of the bone (or in opposite directions around the axis of the elbow or knee joint) as far as Cross fiber friction When applied correctly, this technique can loosen tension at the joints by realigning muscle fibers and reducing the scar tissue that may affect a client’s range-of-motion (ROM). To perform this technique, massage therapists apply medium to firm pressure with the thumbs or fingertips at either the origin or insertion of a muscle, or a site of scar tissue formation, and then move quickly back and forth perpendicular to the affected tissue fibers. (Therapists may also work in a circular motion for variety, but should always start and finish with the perpendicular movement.) Among the various techniques described here, cross fiber Deep tissue As its name implies, this technique typically involves the application of forearms and elbows with firm pressure to access deep layers of muscle tissue that are not readily accessible with thumb or finger pressure. (Therapists may use thumb or finger
Fiber Friction, Deep Tissue, Directional Massage, Hot Stones, Myofascial Release, Petrissage, Sports Massage, Stretches (passive stretching, Agonist Contract or AC stretches, and Contract Relax Antagonist Contract or CRAC stretches), and Trigger Point Therapy.
each muscle or the client’s comfort will allow. This technique may also be performed with the client’s help, as massage therapists grasp an especially large area of muscle such as the quadriceps, moving the muscle group in one direction while the client moves the femur in the opposite direction. Next, the technique is repeated along the length of the bone or to either extent beyond a joint, as massage therapists takes special precaution not to torque the injury site itself. This is a generally safe technique; the only precaution involves the client’s comfort upon the technique’s application. friction is one of the more uncomfortable techniques and may result in soreness or inflammation of the targeted area after it is performed; icing the targeted area after using this technique can help reduce its after-effects. Massage therapists should not use cross fiber friction if inflammation is present at the injury site or until the inflammation has been treated with ice or NSAIDs (see below). Therapists should let a client who is unfamiliar with cross fiber friction know the purpose behind applying this technique and what may result from its use.
pressure, but it takes more time for them to reach deep tissue, because they cannot generate the greater pressure that forearms or elbows can.) The deep tissue technique is further characterized by slow and deliberate movements while the targeted muscle or
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Book Code: MTX1323
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