During my time studying Sports and Remedial Massage and treating clients I have gained a lot of experience from those that were teaching me, my fellow students and co workers as well as the clients that I have been treating.
Throughout my studies I gained so much insight into the world of Sports Massage, I learnt the basic massage techniques, more advanced Sports Massage techniques, how to keep my posture whilst massaging, masses of anatomy and physiology which I continue to learn everyday and plenty more. I learned in various ways such as watching others through treatments, listening to my teachers and classmates describe what they were doing but most importantly to an up and coming Massage Therapist was the amount of practical work I was able to carry out during my studies at lessons and in my own time. The only way to get better at something is to carry it out over and over, so that what we did and it was very effective. Remember PRACTICE DOESN’T MAKE PERFECT, PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT!
Whilst on my course I was fortunate enough to work at the London Marathon treating runners who gave their time and efforts to charity. This was a great experience for my colleagues and I as it gave us a lot of practice time, taught us how to carry out a treatment in a short space of time whilst still being effective and keeping that all important posture and taught us about certain injuries that can arise from running continuously for26 miles! It was great to be in that environment where there are thousands of runners positively buzzing after running probably the furthest they will ever run knowing that at the end of it all they can relax and have a massage on their tired, aching bodies.
Since I have been working as a Sports and Remedial massage therapist at YOU Massage Therapy, I have learnt even more from my co workers as well as my clients. I have treated past Olympic athletes, Powerlifters, Boxers, Fitness enthusiasts, Office workers, Builders, Soldiers, Marines, hundreds of people of all ages from all walks of life with various musculo-skeletal issues. I’ve treated post surgery patients, clients with postural problems, sporting injuries, pre and post event massages and those with medical conditions such as Fibromyalgia, Migraines, Whiplash victims, Chronic back pain and various other issues.
All of these clients with their unique issues have proved invaluable to me as they have taught me more about the body than I could learn from any book. I’ve learnt how particular muscles in the body can affect other areas of the body; using the techniques I know I have found ways to differentiate those techniques slightly to help a particular client and I have learnt with an effective treatment, with plenty of communication and sound advice you will gain a clients trust a will start to see them more regularly as part of a treatment plan.
As a working Massage Therapist, you can never stop learning, you can never say, “I now know it all” because of the glorious diversity that presents itself when treating injury throughout the body, but I can confidently say “I know what techniques have worked in the past and I know how to apply the most effective treatment plan to any situation”, if you’re not sure whether a Sports Massage or Deep Tissue Massage is for you, call us on 02380 639 747 or book yourself in for a consultation and 1 hour treatment time with me and I will be able to get to know you and tailor your time uniquely so that you get the best treatment possible. My colleagues have shown me a variety of Holistic Massage techniques to incorporate in as required, this just furthers my knowledge of how the body responses in different situations and the importance of correct pressure and technique so that you are comfortable throughout your treatment. A lot of people are under the preconception that a good Sport Massage should be painful, it shouldn’t be painful, we like to refer to the feeling of being worked on effectively as a ‘good discomfort’, you should not want the therapist to stop what they’re doing as this means you are tense and we value the importance of keeping you comfortable and relaxed throughout.
Thanks for reading; I’ll be writing in soon about the various techniques applied during a Sports Massage. See you soon, Pete.
