By Laura Kirkman, Professional Sports and Thai Yoga Massage Therapist

Sports massage consists of a range of techniques that are proven to be really effective for alleviating any postural imbalances or to help particular muscles that get stiff and achy and are not performing as well. A postural imbalance can happen from a number of reasons but it generally means a particular group of muscles are being overused or underused and it causes a knock on effect to other muscle groups, as they will have to work harder to compensate for the imbalance. When you have been out of your natural posture for a while it can gradually start to affect you, you could start to feel pain and discomfort in area’s that are usually fine.

So as a Sports Masseuse my main aims are to effectively get the muscles back into a good working order by massage and personalised after care, so that you are back in alignment with your natural posture and feel pain free again. Depending on the state of your muscles, further treatments could be required to get the best possible results for your body. This will include discussing a treatment plan that suits you the best with how frequently you can have treatments and roughly how long you would like to receive them. At the end of each session I will go through stretching and strengthening exercises that can help maintain the effects of the treatment. I cannot stress enough how much of a difference actually doing the exercises can help with your overall treatment!

It could mean a shorter treatment plan if you continue these exercises and if you really implement them into your lifestyle anyway that you can. You will always be feeling better and experiencing less pain than before, you will also have the knowledge to effectively manage your own pain. I will also be much happier to see you in the future as well for any further top-up treatments.

Common professions that would benefit from a Sports Massage include (but are not exclusive to..)
* Desk-based jobs
* Driving jobs or long-driving commutes
* Intensive manual labour jobs
* High-stress jobs
* Health Professionals (Drs, Vets, Therapists etc…)
* Parenthood

I will be covering each one in a little more detail on my next blog (part 2) if any relate to you – please click on and have a read. Finally I just want to say that Sports Massage can help to release the built up tension within your body and it’s my job as a Sports Masseuse to help with that process so that you can feel happier and healthier.