Sports Massage is for Everyone

You don’t have to be a sporty person or a performer to benefit from #sportsmassagetherapy – this therapy is great for everyone, even the most avid couch potato!! Helps to relieve #stress. Can help reduce #anxiety. Can manage #lowbackpain. Can aid #postsurgeryrecovery and so much more. Our Sports & Remedial Massage Therapist @nicolalouisestt is very busy but happy to open more treatment appointments when necessary.

Call our Thurrock clinic on 01375 678877 for more details or to book an appointment.

 

Back in the Race

Top tips to help you back to running in record breaking time.

Our practitioners offer some no nonsense, easy to follow top tips to get you back to performing at your best!

Are you training for or just completed a marathon? At this time of year our practitioner’s report seeing lots of patients complaining of running type injuries.

A little known fact is that if you raise your legs to 90 degrees following a run, the lactic acid will be felt less the following day in your legs. You should ideally rest them up a wall for a good 10 minutes.

Rehydration is very important. Ideally rehydration salts mixed with water but a good quality sports drink should be sufficient.

You don’t need vast amounts. But you do need to recover sodium levels that have been lost through perspiration.

Painful muscle cramp can be caused by dehydration. The best way to deal with it is to rest, sip a sports drink and gently try to stretch the affected muscle.

Relax for the rest of the day. It is going to take 3 days for the inflammation to reduce so maybe take turmeric supplements or even ibuprofen (if appropriate for you) to help.

Heat is not your friend. If you have a sore lower back, knee, shin or Achilles tendon there is more likely inflammation present. If you apply heat to an inflamed area it attracts more blood locally, which in turn increases inflammation.

As heat is applied pain reduces as the inflammatory markers in the blood are reduced/ diluted by the additional blood. Unfortunately this in turn brings more inflammatory markers. You take off the heat and the additional blood reduces but, the extra inflammatory markers remain.

You need ice or something cold on the sore areas. Ideally for 3-5 mins per hour and gentle movement to stop the inflammation from building up. I am not talking about a brisk walk, just a standing up every half hour or so just to mobilise around the back and hips for a couple of minutes.

Injury

There is very little an osteopath can do for the first 72 hours following an injury.

With muscle strains and ligamentous sprains our advice is RICE. That is unless it’s a significant injury. Then you should visit A&E immediately.

If you feel an injury is more than a sprain or strain you should see your GP. If you suspect fracture, dislocation or ligamentous rupture that’s a trip to the hospital.

Rest the injured part

Ice the area regularly. It’s recommended to ice an injury for 20 mins every 2 hours.

Compress the injured area. A compression bandage is ideal.

Elevate the injured area

 

If after 72 hours there is still pain, that’s the time to visit us at Cedar Hall Clinics in Thurrock or Benfleet in Essex. We are highly trained to give you a diagnosis, treatment (if appropriate), advice on management and a prognosis.

With regards to running again, injured or not, I’d recommend taking a little time off. At least to begin with.

Avoid any running at all for a week, maybe two, depending on how you feel. Walking is OK and is a good way to reduce the metabolic waste products from the muscles.

You can contact us on 01375 678877 or 01268 774249 we offer free assessments

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Injury Woes – but Sophie ready to get back on Track

For the majority of the 2014 outdoor season, I spent most of my time as a spectator on a spin bike. Achilles tendinopathy in my right foot caused me to finish my season at the end of May. As I wasn’t able to train or compete all summer, I was determined to make the most out of the 2015 season. However, my injury had other plans.

Getting back on track

With plenty of completed bike sessions, rehab exercises, treatment and recovery, my injury started to improve. I was soon able to jog, which over time turned into steady running. After a while, I was able to complete sessions again and things were looking brighter. At university, I continued with my rehab exercises to ensure I wouldn’t have any problems and for some time, it seemed to work. For many months, I was able to train without any pain and it appeared that my injury had finally healed.

During the Easter break, I was lucky enough to go on an altitude training camp with my university to Font Romeu, France. It was a great experience running in the mountains and it benefitted my fitness greatly. I would love to go there again next year.

However, once I returned home, the problems started again. About a week before the BUCS outdoor championships, I completed a speed session. The session went well and I was happy with the way I was running, especially with a competition coming up. Unfortunately, that evening, my Achilles was sore and inflamed. I spoke to my coaches and made a joint decision to pull out of the race. I was devastated. I felt like all my progress had stepped back a whole year. I went straight back to cross-training, rehab and treatment. Along with the sore Achilles also came a tight back. Due to my constant limping, I was straining my posture. However, thanks to Sara’s hard work at Cedar Hall, she has managed to get my posture back into the correct position.

At the moment, things are looking positive! I am not back to training fully yet but I am slowly getting there which is exciting! My aim for this year is to get fit and strong, and hopefully be ready to race for the indoor season.

Blog by sponsored athlete Sophie Riches

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