Sports Massage & Remedial Therapy

Sports Massage & Remedial Therapy is about helping athletes maximise their performance, reduce the risk of injury and speed their recovery when injured. NSRT graduates all over Ireland are recognised for the quality of their work and I treat a lot of the top athletes, rugby, GAA and soccer players in the country.

Sports Massage & Remedial Therapy covers a comprehensive number of effective techniques all of which are hugely beneficial to assessing and treating clients.

MUSCLE ENERGY TECHNIQUE

Muscle Energy Technique is a type of osteopathic manipulative treatment used in osteopathic medicine and physical therapy. Muscle energy techniques are used to treat somatic dysfunction, especially decreased range of motion, muscular hypertonicity and pain. It involves a combination of assessment, treatment and exercise in which a client on request uses his or her muscles from a contracted position in a specific direction against resistance.

Benefits
• Strengthens weak muscles
• Stretch tight muscles
• Release hypertonicity
• Improve local circulation
• Improve musculoskeletal function
• Mobilise joints

SOFT TISSUE RELEASE

Soft Tissue Release is the assessment, treatment and management of soft tissue injury, pain and dysfunction primarily of the neuromusculoskeletal system. It involves the combination of movement and manipulation together with active co-operation of the client, and achieves results such as

• Breaking down scar tissue
• Improved mobility
• Improved posture
• Efficient movement patterns
• Increased flexibility

POSITIONAL RELEASE

Positional Release is a highly effective technique to relieve pain and restore functions to muscles, fascia, bones and joints.  Clients are placed in a position of comfort and ease.  From here I use a combination of techniques such as Trigger Point Therapy, joint mobilisation and massage which are all performed slowly without any additional pain or discomfort to the client.

Positional release techniques are gentle manual treatments for muscle pain and spasm which involve re-setting muscle tone and enhance poor circulation.  This works by allowing the pain receptors in the body to switch off therefore allowing the body to heal.  Once the client is relieved of most of their pain or discomfort the therapist can then incorporate some more methods, this we refer to as Integrated Neuromuscular Inhibition Technique (INIT).  This can then involve active participation from the athlete or client.

TRIGGER POINTS

Trigger Points are areas within the body when palpated refer sensitivity, pain or other symptoms to another area around where the client complains of pain.  When a muscle has a trigger point within it, it cannot reach its normal resting length therefore the muscle is held in a shortened position.  A combination of techniques can deactivate TPs allowing the tissue to return to a normal resting length and therefore will be able to function correctly and without pain.

STRETCHING

Most people have some knowledge about stretching, however this is probably copied from a book, friend or watching somebody like an elite athlete stretch at a competition.

Everybody has different flexibility levels so depending on their needs they will need different types of stretching i.e. maintenance, developmental, dynamic range of movement. I assess a client’s flexibility, range of movement and build a stretching programme around their individual needs.

REHABILITATION THROUGH LOCAL MUSCULAR ENDURANCE AND RESISTANCE TRAINING

N.S.R.T. Sports & Remedial Massage Therapists are qualified to treat a wide range of people and conditions from the sedentary client to the recreational athlete right to the elite sportsperson. I have the ability to customise a rehabilitation programme covering injuries such as reconstructed ligament, frozen shoulder, muscle strain, ligament sprain & golfers elbow to name a few.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS

I usually assess my clients to see if they have a joint, muscular, ligament or tendon injury.  By completing a differential diagnosis I am then able to establish whether I can treat the individual or if they need to be referred on to another practitioner such as a doctor, surgeon or acupuncturist.

INJURY PREVENTION

A lot of what the N.S.R.T. therapist work involves is the treatment of soft tissue dysfunction and injuries, but I also advocate Sports Massage for the prevention of injuries.  When the sportsperson attends for regular massage it allows them to train uninterrupted from injury therefore allowing them to compete to their best ability.