Equine Sports MassageSports massage is a popular and effective technique that complements McTimoney manipulation by working on the soft tissues surrounding and supporting the skeletal structures and joints.
Massage stimulates the blood and lymphatic circulation. It can alleviate pain and restore movement amplitude. In this way massage can be very helpful in reducing time and boosting quality of healing and increase the quality of movement achieved. Used as a preventative maintenance technique, massage has benefits of aiding the removal of muscle waste products that accumulate after strenuous exercise and reduce the risk of injury to joints by monitoring muscle flexibility. Massage for rehabilitation Massage can play a very important role in rehabilitation after injury or surgery by decreasing muscle pain and tension, maintaining flexibility in affected muscle groups, lengthening connective tissue and improving muscle tone. Immobilisation has been proven detrimental to tissues involved in locomotion. The use of controlled rehabilitation in the early stages of recovery from surgery or injury limits the effects of disuse on bone, cartilage, soft tissue, ligaments, tendons and muscles, therefore speeding up recovery and aiding a return to previous performance ability. A chain of events occur within the body due to an initial injury, leading to a vicious circle of further injury: Injury > continued work over pain > inflammation > muscle spasm > reduction of circulation > muscle disuse and atrophy > loss of appropriate movement > employment of inappropriate muscles for compensatory movement > altered forces on surrounding structures > risk of further injury..... Sports massage can help with pain management by: Passive or active range of motion exercises can provide proprioceptive stimulation by copying the physiological movement pattern in order to recondition neuro-muscular function. |
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