Additional treatment and prevention NSAIDs will help alleviate the inflammation associated with a suboccipital injury. Kinesio tape has been shown to be a very effective aid for the upper trapezius and levator scapulae. Tension in the upper trapezius and scalenes can be reduced with the application of heat, such as a hot towel around the upper shoulders and neck. Cervical injuries are most common in contact sports such as football, hockey, and wrestling, as well as several non-contact sports such as diving and power lifting. It is estimated that among football players alone, a minimum of 10-15 percent of players will suffer a neck injury some time during their career due to the greater body weights colliding against each other at high velocity. respectively) are manipulated to help move cerebral spinal fluid through the ventricular system of the brain and spine, has shown some promise in preliminary studies to alleviate the internal pressure sometimes associated with concussion symptoms. However, craniosacral work for concussion victims should only be done by therapists trained in that modality. The best thing for athletes to do who have suffered a concussion is to rest, both physically and mentally. This includes taking time off from their sport and any invigorating or weight-bearing exercise, as well as avoiding tasks which require too much attention, such as school/ course work or playing video games. Additional treatment and prevention The athletes should take acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain management and not aspirin or ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil); they should avoid blood thinning medications. Athletes should also avoid heavy meals with alcohol. Concussions are most common in contact sports such as football, boxing, hockey, and soccer. of exercise to prevent DOMS. Massage therapists should remember to work the full length of the affected muscle from the muscle’s origin to insertion or insertion to origin, whichever is more comfortable for the athlete. Hot stones may be used despite the assumed presence of inflammation. Although hot stones are normally contraindicated for inflammation, they appear to effectively treat mild subcutaneous inflammation, since in the case of DOMS, the hot stones often relieve the muscular tension that is part of the pain cycle. Petrissage is probably the most widely used technique for dealing with DOMS, as its kneading and squeezing motion assists blood circulation and the flow of lymph throughout the body. Finally, stretching techniques – particularly AC and CRAC stretches – should be employed to help ease DOMS since muscles affected by DOMS are often tense. With some athletes, it is possible none of these techniques will be useful, in which case you may try massaging a sore muscle’s antagonist, which may help a sore muscle loosen by way of reciprocal inhibition. Additional treatment and prevention NSAIDs may be taken for pain relief. Prevention of DOMS will come naturally as an athlete’s muscles become used to performing new actions or performing at a new level. This condition is not sports specific and may affect athletes who make changes to their normal training routine.
result in a pain referral to the area behind and above the ear. The suboccipital muscles are not particularly well-suited for stretches. While it is not uncommon for neck muscles to be injured during competition, sometimes an injury is more serious and involves an injury to the cervical spine itself, such as a herniated disc. Massage therapists are only qualified to work on soft tissue structures such as muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Therapists should never attempt to fix a herniated disc by pushing the disc back into place. In such cases, therapists may either massage to relieve the tension in muscles surrounding the herniated disc or otherwise follow a course of action outlined by the athlete’s physician. Concussion Concussions result from a blow to the head and are common in contact sports. Although there are several grades of concussion, the general symptoms include amnesia, confusion, difficulty concentrating, depression, disorientation, dizziness, headaches, fatigue, feelings of lost time, a loss of balance, pressure or pounding in the head, sensitivity to light or noise, tinnitus, nausea, vomiting, and vision problems. In some cases, a concussion will be accompanied by a loss of consciousness, though a loss of consciousness does not necessarily indicate more severe symptoms. Due to the number of symptoms involved with a concussion, it is not always diagnosed. However, athletes who suspect a concussion should be diagnosed by a physician as undiagnosed and untreated concussions often increase the chance of returning to their sport and suffering a secondary concussion which may be more traumatic to the brain and possibly even fatal. Among the massage techniques listed in Section I, none will provide any specific relief for the symptoms of a concussion. Craniosacral massage therapy, in which the large bones of the skull (the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal bones, Delayed onset muscle soreness This condition is considered less of an injury than a byproduct of the effects of physical exertion, specifically, activity in which muscles are contracted through what would otherwise be a muscle’s relaxing, lengthening movement. An example of this type of activity would be when a runner is running downhill or when a weight lifter is slowly returning to the start position of a bicep dumbbell curl. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) normally occurs when athletes change their training program or dramatically increases their training intensity. (DOMS is also very common in clients new to physical activity.) The abnormal stress of changes to a training program causes micro tears in the muscle fibers which often causes minor inflammation. Although medical research does not yet understand the precise mechanism for why this type of activity causes soreness and pain, one theory is that the inflammation present in the muscle places pressure upon nerve endings in a muscle, causing pain, which causes a muscle to become tense, causing further pain. Contrary to popular belief, DOMS has very little to do with muscle fatigue or lactic acid build up in the muscles. There is a wide variety of opinions to treat DOMS beyond the basic application of R.I.C.E., as there is very little research that supports any particular method of treatment. In using massage to ease the symptoms of DOMS, directional massage, hot stones, petrissage, and stretching appear to be the most useful of the several sports massage techniques reviewed in Section I. Directional massage, which helps to lengthen the sore muscle, should be performed between bouts of icing, before any lubricants are applied to the skin, and within 24-48 hours
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