You’ve watched several documentaries of popular athletes getting their massage while being interviewed. You wonder how relaxing it might be for them, plopped up on the massage table with a therapist soothing their aching muscles. It’s important to know that massages for athletes are not as relaxing as the ones you have in the spa. They don’t just soothe aching muscles, but they target parts of the athletes’ bodies that are common injury points.
What Massage Means for People
In general, people have a massage because they want to relax and relieve stress. This is for their general well-being. If they want to feel good, they go to the spa and get a massage. If they have been feeling exhausted because of work, they can ask a masseuse to relieve some stress from their shoulders. Getting a massage has become such a relaxing activity for people that they invest in portable massaging devices at home. This means they can receive the same level of a relaxing massage they can get from their masseuses at home.
But for people who suffered from a sports injury, getting a massage is more complicated. For one, you have to learn from your doctor about the extent of your injuries. You also have to understand the impact of these injuries on your health. While a massage can be relaxing for some people, it can do the opposite for those with existing injuries.
Diagnosis of Sports Injury
A massage cannot be used to diagnose a sports injury. It cannot assess a problem with an injury you sustained from playing basketball or soccer with your friends. If there is pain in your body, you need a doctor to diagnose your problem. The doctor will tell what kind of treatment your body needs. He will also be the one to decide on your recovery program.
Recovery Program
It is during the recovery program that you can begin thinking about having a massage. Sports massages are common in the sports world. Athletes use them to restore the functions in their muscles and improve the circulation of blood. For non-athletes, a massage during the recovery phase can be a supplemental program. This is the cherry on top of the cake. It’s an additional program that you can enter into when you have all the bases covered already.
The sports massage alone cannot treat your injury problems. It should not be a pivotal part of your recovery program. It should be supplemental and although it’s an important part of recovering from a sports injury, you should be careful with who administers it.
Massage Works for Injuries
When given the right amount of pressure, an injured area of your body will succumb to the massage. You will feel infinitely better than when you first arrived in that room. However, it’s important to be upfront with your therapists about your injuries. If they don’t know what they should avoid, a massage can cause more harm than good.
Buying a massager at home should undergo the same process. You have to think about what the device can do and how it will benefit you. It’s also important to know when to use and not use it because of a lingering injury.
Looking for the Right Therapist or Masseuse
You can get a massage after a sports injury provided that a trained therapist will do it. These therapists differ from ordinary massage therapists, the ones you find in therapeutic spas. They more than soothe your aching muscles, but they also know how to prevent pressuring parts of your body that have been injured by physical activity. There have been many cases in the past when a relaxing massage turned out to be worse for the client because the therapist didn’t know of an existing injury.
That’s why it’s also important to be honest with your masseuse. They will tell you when the right time is to get a massage. Even if you insist on getting the message because you are feeling fine, reputable massage therapists will still demand to see a clearance from your doctors. That’s not a nuisance, but it’s for their protection.
Massage is sometimes miraculous. It works to relieve you of stress, tension, and pressure. It removes muscle knots from your back, where these are usually found. But more than anything, massage therapy can help athletes and non-athletes during the recovery period from a physical injury. It’s been proven time and again to be a safe accompaniment of the recovery program. Just make sure you’re getting it from the right sources.
