Sports Massage – how many of you get it and…

I was making a rhetorical point, not issuing an order.

molgrips,

You’ll be pushed to find much (if any) credible research showing it does although anecdotal evidence is high. If you can find any pertinant research then I’d be interested to see it.

I’m not even saying it doesn’t work, what I am saying is that many people practicing have done an on line diploma or similar and are registered with an organisation which has no real credibility.

Anyhows its pontless debating cos that will likely lead to arguing, no one will be convinced of the others points, and we’ll all have to go off and sulk.

I had three massages by a physio on an injury I sustained in March. What I can say is this – it helped no-end. It cost me £30 a go and was worth every penny. He could have prefaced massage with sports, luxuriating, herbal, whatever – it made no odds to me.

He could have prefaced massage with sports, luxuriating, herbal, whatever

This. It’s just certain massage techniques dressed up in a nice trendy package.

What’s trendy about the word “sports”? Would you prefer deep tissue massage instead?

deluded,

The only way you could know (prove) that it worked would be to go back in time and go throught the same time period again without the treatment and compare the outcomes, other wise we have anecdotal singular evidence which, when taken together with lots of other singular events can seem to provide a credible body of evidence that a process or intervention works.

Given that it is not possible to time travel as far as i know then the next best thing is to provide the treament to as large a number of people as possible with a similarly large group as control with no intervention.

Comparing these group outcomes will indicate with some level of certainty whether an intervention was effective or not unlike singular events.

For example the oldest recorded woman was a lady by the name of Jeanne Louise Calment who died at the age of 122. She smoked all her life (well gave up at 119 cos she couldn’t see well enough to light up) and ate a minimum of 2lbs of chocolate per week.

Hence on a sample of one we can show that eating excessive amounts of chocolate and smoking is very healthy and will help you live to a great age.

deluded,

The only way you could know (prove) that it worked would be to go back in time and go throught the same time period again without the treatment and compare the outcomes, other wise we have anecdotal singular evidence which, when taken together with lots of other singular events can seem to provide a credible body of evidence that a process or intervention works.

Given that it is not possible to time travel as far as i know then the next best thing is to provide the treament to as large a number of people as possible with a similarly large group as control with no intervention.

Comparing these group outcomes will indicate with some level of certainty whether an intervention was effective or not unlike singular events.

For example the oldest recorded woman was a lady by the name of Jeanne Louise Calment who dies at the age of 122. She smoked all her life (well gave up at 119 cos she couldn’t see well enough to light up) and ate a minimum of 2lbs of chocolate per week.

Hence on a sample of one we can show that eating excessive amounts of chocolate and smoking is very healthy and will help you live to a great age.

WTF?

It helped – of that I’ve no doubt. I’m not obliged to prove anything.

I’m off to the pub to watch the rugby.

If you don’t get it then don’t worry. 😀

dangerousbeans – Member

Anyhows its pontless debating cos that will likely lead to arguing, no one will be convinced of the others points, and we’ll all have to go off and sulk.

/End of thread

/End of STW

Sheep were made to be shorn 😉

Why you is go to pub; rugby is on the telly? Cheaper.

Sheep were made to be shorn

What a delightfully succint and poetic way of putting things. Brilliant. 🙂

I benefit from it.

The might SBZ has worked on my muscles and would attest to how screwed they feel.

I am in general discomfort all of the time and ‘sports’ massage or deep tissue massage provide me with a release from this. It also allows me to conduct proper stretching and physio work.

Conversely a trip to the Spa for my birthday felt like a tickle.

I havn’t had them before but recently we’ve been able to get free massages once a month at work. Usually I’d say it’s very pleasant, relaxing and my legs seem to feel good afterwards but it would be hard to say if it makes any quantifiable difference to recovery or performance. However, Monday I had one after Big Dog (6 hr race) and my legs were still quite sore / tight in places. The massage made a massive difference to the soreness / heaviness – all but gone afterwards.

It’s just certain massage techniques dressed up in a nice trendy package

Surely it’s just certain massage techniques given a convenient name? Makes sense to me. They’ve not called it ‘miracle wonder chakra positive energy massage’ have they?

They better bloody not, Mol!

Dunno if I’d pay for them. Get them free at work which mostly goes on my knackered right shoulder.

My view won’t be popular; I think its mainly psychological rather than physiological.

Given the length of time humans have had to evolve, it would seem counter-intuitive to suggest that physical exercise needs some one to press or rub on your sore bits.

The lack of evidence for the effectiveness of massage in our sports scientific world does speak volumes.

It’s nice to have, it makes people feel better, but I suspect it does little in any repair/flushingoutoftoxins/removinglacticacid/realigningmusclesandstuff kind of way.

Given the length of time humans have had to evolve, it would seem counter-intuitive to suggest that physical exercise needs some one to press or rub on your sore bits

That’s not what people are suggesting. No-one’s saying that exercise NEEDS to be followed by massage.

They are saying that if you do physical exercise you can injure yourself in a variety of ways; sometimes physical manipulation can help.

Thousands of years ago we weren’t sitting on our arses for 20 years then trying to train for marathons on tarmac, kicking a ball about or hitting a ball with some other implement.

We were also dying of a range of diseases, so by your argument antibiotics would also be mumbo jumbo.

Poorly thought out argument there.

Massages aid recovery from injuries. An example –

I snapped my Achilles and was put in cast for 8 weeks. In that time the synovial fluid that bathes the tendon with nutrients and lubricates it in its sheath built up and became more viscous due to my foot being immobile. To aid healing and restore mobility this fluid needs to be displaced – deep massage accomplishes this. Collagen fibre’s coalesce into scar tissue, along the rupture site. Friction work (deep massage) removes the adhesions, improving the strength of the tendon and making it less likely to re-rupture.

100.

I notice that despite my ‘poor argument’, I am as yet not drowning in evidence for the efficacy of massage.

crikey – Member
I think its mainly psychological rather than physiological.

And why do you think that psycho and physio logy should be considered in isolation of each other when considering health and well being ?

They shouldn’t. But the claims are for physiological effects in isolation.

Still waving, not drowning.

🙂

Crikey – are the claims about massage for physiological benefits in isolation?

I think you know what my concern is, quibbling over nomenclature aside. It’s big business, so it would be reassuring to see some evidence that it works rather than suggesting that my argument needs work.

Gotta go, ITU to run..

It is big business, but so are a lot of things. Where is the evidence that acupuncture works, the evidence that electrotherapy works, or electroconvulsive therapy?

Crikey, most bodywork therpists I know and work with would make no such claims.
When such therapies are subject to reductionist analysis they often seem to ‘come up short’ because they are best considered by integrative analysis.
Reductionist analysis looks to find single cause-effect relationships whereas integrative analysis examines issues on a more system based level.
A good bodywork therapist will consider the specific area of concern as part of the whole body system and will propose a course of treatment which is far more than just ‘rubbing the bit that hurts’.

I notice that despite my ‘poor argument’, I am as yet not drowning in evidence for the efficacy of massage

You may be entirely correct, but your post was still quite silly 🙂

I did not know that the efficacy of massage was in doubt. I don’t pay for it, I never felt as if I really needed it, but I figured it helped some people.