Continuing education in sports massage can be an excellent career choice. Whether you work in an athletic training facility or private practice, you’ll be able to cater your services to clients with active lifestyles and professional sports goals.
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Identifying Endangerment Sites
There are certain areas that should never be massaged, including rashes, open wounds, contagious skin conditions and severe osteoporosis. In these cases, the increased circulation from massage may worsen the condition or spread it to others, potentially causing serious infection or even death.
Likewise, sports massage should not be performed over acute injuries like fractures, burns, or severe sprains. This is because the increased blood flow can exacerbate the injury, resulting in more pain and swelling and prolonging the healing process. This can also be dangerous for athletes who are already suffering from a medical condition that may be made worse by massage, such as cardiovascular diseases, such as severe thrombosis or phlebitis, or those who have recently undergone heart surgery. It is important that the client fully discloses these conditions to the therapist.
Identifying Posture and Alignment
While most massage modalities seek to address posture and alignment issues, sports massage is especially concerned with this aspect of client health. This course teaches you how to recognize common endangerment sites that are unique to this modality and how to perform basic therapeutic observations and palpate clients using specific techniques.
Identifying an individual athlete’s needs and selecting massage techniques that will best help them is the key to providing optimal care. Taking into account training goals and identifying any existing injuries will help you tailor the session for your client.
Athletes who receive regular massages can experience reduced injury, improved performance and enhanced athletic ability. They also tend to recover faster from workouts and can practice longer, making them more likely to achieve peak performance on game day.
Performing Therapeutic Observations and Palpate Clients
Athletes, from professional athletes to "weekend warriors," seek bodywork treatment in order to prepare for athletic competition, speed up recovery after an event and improve overall performance. In this CEU course, you'll learn how to effectively observe and palpate clients using sports massage techniques.
In addition to a thorough review of theories of sports, fitness and rehabilitation, this course covers therapeutic massage techniques for the care of sports-related injuries and conditions including sprains, strains, contusions, joint injuries, and muscular imbalances. Hundreds of full-color photos, key terms, case histories, review questions, In My Experience boxes, and a glossary help you master the material.
Every massage therapist needs to continue their education in order to stay sharp, keep up with new modalities, and grow their skill set. This allows them to broaden their client base, work in high-end spas or start their own independent practice.
Performing Range of Motion Assessments
As a massage therapist, you're familiar with client observation and assessment, but sports massage requires additional techniques. Learn how to palpate muscles for signs of injury and assess movement patterns that may indicate imbalances. Also, learn the proper technique to encourage flexibility and range of motion while stimulating the production of natural joint lubricants.
Understanding when sports massage is appropriate—and when it's not—is key for ensuring optimal results for your clients. This course covers the most common indications for this modality, including muscle tension; splinting associated with pain; fascial adhesions; and sports injuries. In addition, you'll understand the importance of a thorough client history and how to perform tests to help identify two types of trigger points. Plus, get guidelines for PNF stretching and a form to document results.
Identifying Benefits of Sports Massage
Whether an athlete is working toward a new personal best, recovering from a nagging injury, or just trying to stay healthy while exercising and playing, sports massage can enhance flexibility and increase range of motion to prevent injuries. This course also offers essential information on identifying the key factors in effective rehabilitation, which can accelerate recovery and help athletes achieve their goals.
Reduces Muscle Fatigue
Intense training and competition can lead to muscle fatigue, reducing performance and increasing the risk of injury. Sports massage helps to alleviate the buildup of metabolic waste (like lactic acid) and improves circulation, which reduces fatigue, promotes healing, and supports compare sports massage and physical therapy pricing tissue regeneration.
Athletes that have incorporated sports massage into their training programs have reported better sleep quality, reduced anxiety, and improved mental focus. This is the kind of holistic support that can benefit everyone!
