Your Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) Should Know the Contraindications of Sports Massage Therapy

People who love sports or who seriously work out have grown to rely on sports massage therapy. It has been proven to be beneficial as a preparatory therapy for sports training, sports competition and fitness training. It has also been shown to be effective as a post-competition or post work out therapy, ensuring quicker recovery from fatigue and providing support for the treatment of any injuries. There are also cases when existing medical conditions of the person contraindicate sports massage therapy, though. Ignoring such contraindications may cause further injury or even death.  This is why you should trust only a licensed massage therapist or LMT for your sports massage therapy. A licensed massage therapist should know all about the contraindications to sports massage therapy.

Sports massage therapy may worsen bleeding. People with open wounds should wait until the wounds have healed and closed completely with scars. People with muscle or tendon ruptures should wait at least three days for them to heal and for bleeding within the muscles and tendons to stop.

Following the same logic, people suffering from any of several bleeding disorders, including hemophilia, should stay away from sports massage therapy because any bruising of tissues may initiate bleeding which will then be unstoppable.

People with contusions will also be having bleeding within the muscles. Undergoing sports massage therapy may cause them to develop myositis ossificans which is the growth of bone within the muscles. People who already have existing conditions of myositis ossificans should likewise avoid sports massage therapy which will worsen it.

Sports massage therapy will also cause more damage to people suffering from broken bones, burns of chilblains, rheumatoid arthritis and gout, or who have artificial blood vessels that had been implanted through surgery.

Bursitis or the inflammation of the sack of fluid between the tendons and bones of the joints will be aggravated by sports massage therapy.

People with periostitis have an inflammation in the sheath that surrounds the bone. The bone should not be touched and, therefore, sports massage therapy should be avoided.

People with thrombosis have a blood clot in their vein, often located in the area of the calf and felt as a deep muscle soreness. This soreness should never be treated through sports massage therapy, though, because the massage may dislodge the clot and cause it to travel along the vein. If the blood clot reaches the heart, it could cause great damage and even lead to death.

People with tumors or who suspect having a tumor should also stay away from sports massage therapy since any tumor should never be massaged. A tumor may seem just like a knot in the muscle and until you are very sure about what it is exactly, you should not take any risks.

People who have any sort of bacterial, viral or fungal infection affecting the skin should not undergo sports massage therapy because it could actually cause the infection to spread even more.

Aside from all these conditions, any other suspicious physical condition you may have that has not undergone proper medical assessment and diagnosis is cause for concern. Make sure you get it checked by the appropriate medical specialists before even considering sports massage therapy.

Your licensed massage therapist or LMT will be very knowledgeable on all the aforementioned contraindications to sports massage therapy and you will be in safe hands. Furthermore, a licensed massage therapist or LMT will also have the necessary expertise for acupressure massage therapy, shiatsu massage therapy, reflexology massage therapy, craniosacral massage therapy, deep tissue massage therapy and pregnancy massage therapy, should you need any of these. A caring licensed massage therapist or LMT even does insurance billing for people in auto accidents after treating them. Now that’s service with a heart.

Tagged with: Contraindications • Know • Licensed • Massage • Should • Sports • Therapist • Therapy

Filed under: Rheumatoid Arthritis Pregnancy

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