Massage for Sports Medicine
October 21, 2010
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In addition to massage’s obvious everyday uses, like stress relief and relaxation, a good massage is believed to have a number of effects that can improve sports performance and decrease the instance of athletic injury.
Therapeutic massage for sports medicine relieves swelling, lessens fatigue, drains lactic acid from the muscles while loosening them up, increasing overall flexibility, and allowing for a wider range of motion in the joints.
While massage is a typical solution for many commonplace health issues such as reducing cortisol levels, and lowering heart rate and blood pressure, and elevating mood; a post exercise massage can reduce muscle soreness, increase oxygen and circulation to the muscles — and athletes have taken notice. From the NBA to high school athletic departments to marathoners, sports massage is being employed as a tactic to increase performance and bring injury rates down.
A typical and complete sports massage therapy regimen includes pre-and/or post-exercise massage as well as other scheduled maintenance massages. This kind of routine can be extremely beneficial to athletes training for an event such as a marathon or triathlon, in terms of preventing injuries and shortening recovery time on injuries that are incurred, and possibly boosting endurance. Despite the fact that massage is often thought of as a luxury, it has real life healing and preventative medicine applications.
If a career in Massage Therapy sounds interesting to you, take a look at the programs Sanford-Brown has to offer here: http://www.sanfordbrown.edu/Areas-Of-Study/Allied-Health-Technicians-And-Therapists/Massage-Therapy
*Sanford-Brown does not guarantee employment or salary.