SPORTS THERAPY

There are many different aspects to sports therapy

· Prevent ional injury techniques
· Injury diagnostics
· Treatments
· Rehabilitation
· Sports Massage

Prevent ional injury techniques

Warm up exercises are very important as they are designed to prepare the body for sporting activity. The function is to prevent injury and to enhance performance.
Stretching reduces muscle tension, increases range of movement; it reduces the risk of muscle soreness and tears, as well as improving exercise techniques.

Injury diagnostics and treatment

It is important to diagnose an injury as early as possible and to administer the correct, and most beneficial treatment. There are different ways to treat soft tissue injuries some of which include heat treatments,
Cryotherapy, ultrasound, massage and support bandaging. These treatments help the healing of muscles, tendons and ligaments and are designed to promote the body to repair itself and can reduce the healing time significantly.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is an important part of treatment it involves mobility, strength training, endurance training, stretching and proprioception exercises. All of which are designed to return the body to the pre-injured state if not better, as well as preventing further injury.

Sports Massage

Sports massage has been adapted for both professional athletes as well as average keep fit persons. It is designed to increase tissue permeability, to stretch muscles and tendons, to improve muscle tissue, elasticity, to break down scar tissue as well as reducing pain and promote relaxation.

Pre-sports massage is designed to warm up the muscles prior to an event, so that a sports person can perform more effectively therefore decreasing the risk of any injury. Many professional athletes depend on pre-sports massage as part of their warm up routine as it is believed to improve their performance.

Post-sports massage is designed to eliminate most of the aches and pains that occur in the working muscles after an intense workout. This is achieved through stretching the muscles and the flushing of lactic acids.