Sports and Remedial Massage
What is Sports or Remedial Massage?
Sports and Remedial massage uses a variety of different soft tissue techniques incorporating skills from many different types of massage including Swedish, Thai, Lymphatic Drainage etc. These base skills are then added to with the use of more recently developed techniques such as Muscle Energy Technique and Positional Release which have developed from our understanding of how the muscles and other soft tissues react to stretch, changes in circulation etc. The result is a comprehensive set of tools from which your practitioner can deal with a variety of conditions and create the effect required.
No one treatment session will be the same as each will be personalized to your requirements and what the practitioner finds. You may wish to have a relaxing massage and ask for the practitioner to relieve tension in the neck, shoulders and upper back built up through stress or alternatively you may have been feeling very fatigued and require a massage to help boost your circulation and make you feel more alert.
What happens during a treatment?
For your
first treatment a detailed history will be taken to determine the most
effective course of action. We will also discuss your current lifestyle and
expectations to set realistic targets by which you can see your improvement.
During the massage you will be required to remove only the necessary
items of clothing and underwear will remain worn at all times. For work on
the legs if you prefer you may bring a pair of loose fitting comfortable
shorts. Towels will be used to cover any parts of the body that are not
being worked on.
Typically most sessions will begin with broad effleurage strokes to warm the muscles and help with relaxation. Depending on the outcome of the initial assessment the session will then be tailored to your individual needs and may incorporate any of the following techniques:
Effleurage or Petrissage
Compressions or Frictions
Percussive Techniques
Muscle Energy Techniques
Positional Release
Neuromuscular Techniques
Stretching
Soft Tissue Release
Trigger point work
How often should I have Sports Massage?
Ideally Sports Massage should be used for injury prevention and general maintenance meaning that having a treatment weekly or once every few weeks is often more helpful than only having massage once an injury has occurred or long period of time has passed. However due to the hands on approach of Sports Massage even after just one session people often find a marked improvement in how they feel.
Who is your Sports Massage Practitioner
Vicki Marsh is your qualified Sports Massage Practitioner. In order to obtain membership of the Sports Massage Association, she trained on one of their few accredited courses requiring a high standard of academic work together with extensive and varied practical case studies. She is also on the National Register of Sports Massage Practitioners.
Since qualifying in 2006 Vicki has gone on to develop her practice working with a range of clients and conditions such as fibromyalgia & post-viral chronic fatigue, spinal injuries, migraines, insomnia, IBS, chronic back pain, tendonitis and many more. As well as working with people on non-sport related injuries and complaints her main specialities are working with elite athletes and those looking to introduce regular sport and exercise to their daily routine. Her understanding of high level sport stems from her own experience as an athlete for the past 6 years of rowing and competing at a national level and she now works with some of the young talented athletes in both rowing and athletics in the Cambridgeshire area.
Her other interests are with pre-and post-natal women and she has recently completed a specialist Pregnancy Massage course to adding to her previous basic training in this area.
Will my Health Insurance cover the cost of treatment?
Currently Sports Massage treatments will not be covered by your insurance company. The Sports Massage Association have applied to the Health Professionals Council and are currently awaiting the outcome of their application. If they are successful it will mean members trained to the appropriate standard and on the National Register of Sports Massage Practitioners will be eligible to provide treatments covered by medical insurance.