Sports Massage Therapy in york for Recovery or Relaxation

There are records of massage being used throughout history in all major civilisations including ancient Greece, China and the Roman Empire. It was quoted by Hippocrates himself as being an effective treatment of both war and sport related injuries.
 
Sports massage was specifically designed as an treatment for the soft tissues of the body such as muscles, ligaments and tendons. It is similar to a conventional Swedish massage however greater pressure is applied in an effort to promote healing, aid recovery and prevent injuries from occurring.

The York based clinic specialises in the use of massage in four ways. Pre event, post event, injury treatment and maintenance.

Pre event sports massage is applied for a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes in a fast paced fashion. Its purpose is to relive any areas of tension that could potentially cause injury. It also is used as an addition to a warm up by increasing localised blood flow and warmth. However a warm up should always be performed before exercise.

Post event sports massage is applied for 30 minutes to 1 hour and uses a mixture of both slow and fast paced techniques, often with heavy pressure. The aim of a post event massage is to aid in the recovery of soft tissue and relive tension that may have built up during the activity. Recovery rate of the local muscles increases as lactic acid is drained away much quicker and circulation is increased. Athletes will often have post event massage so that the next day they do not feel as stiff and sore. Post event massages work very well in conjunction with a stretching routine after the session.

Injury treatment based sports massage will target and injury or area of discomfort. This will follow a full injury assessment to diagnose the injury and identify any potential causes that also need to be addressed. Once diagnosed the  tissues involved can be target specifically to promote healing and recovery. The healing rate increases by boosting the local circulation, relieving and reducing the formation of scar tissue. Sports massage has been found to greatly decrease pain levels and restore ranges of pain free movement.

Maintenance sports massage is used generally by sports performers or those who have a long standing history of problems. It addresses potential future causes of injury such as muscle tension, scar tissue and poor flexibility. Maintenance massages often are performed only once every 3-4 weeks or as required.
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