Public Information Area
1 - Benefits of sports massage and who it is suitable for
2 - Myths/misconceptions of sports massage
3 - Protecting the public - understanding your practitioner's qualifications
1 - Benefits of sports massage and who it is suitable for
Sports massage:
- Improves health, fitness and wellbeing
- Is suitable for anyone who takes part in any kind of activity for leisure, pleasure or sport
Sports massage is generally associated with those who participate in sport at various levels and persons who have suffered injury as a result of participating in sport. However, sports massage need not be viewed so narrowly. A professional practitioner will tailor a massage session to "meet the need" of a client, whether they are a sports participant or not. A skilled sports massage practitioner can, of course, meet the specific requirements of a professional sportsperson, but can also deliver a therapeutic ‘feel good' massage to anyone at all! Provided a client is healthy, sports massage can be administered to meet a variety of needs including:
- Relieving stress and aiding relaxation
- Offering relief from muscle aches and fatigue
- Preventing and treating delayed onset muscle soreness
- Enhancing recovery from exercise
- Relieving myofascial pain
- Relieving spasm and cramps
- Preparing for competition
- Relieving occupational/postural aches
- Increasing circulation
- Aiding recovery and rehabilitation following muscle injury
- Managing/controlling of aches and tension caused by repetitive activity
- Helping to restore flexibility
2 - Myths/misconceptions of sports massage
There are a number of common fallacies associated with sports massage. Members of the public often believe that sports massage is only suitable for sports participants or persons who have been injured through playing sport. Another common misconception is that sports massage has to be painful in order to be effective. Both of these opinions are incorrect.
Sports massage can be suitable for everyone, irrespective of whether they play a sport or not. Sports massage is most certainly used during rehabilitation following injury, but the fact is that most sports massage is delivered to perfectly fit and healthy individuals. There is no doubt that sports massage can, on occasions, result in temporary discomfort, but a professional practitioner will tailor a massage to ‘meet the need' of the individual and the experience should not necessarily be painful.
3 - Protecting the public - understanding your practitioner's qualifications
For SPS, the most important person is the ‘end user'. Therefore offering protection to the public in terms of professionalism and insurance is paramount. You should ensure that your practitioner has recognised qualifications and proper Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance.
By using the search facility in the Find a Practitioner section, you can be assured that each person on the SPS database has successfully achieved an educational qualification that permits them to work autonomously. In addition, all SPS graduates have access to professional indemnity and public liability insurance cover provided by one of the leading medical insurers in the UK.
To find out more about your practitioner's qualifications, see Qualifications Explained.
