Firstly, this isn’t a post to get everyone to book in with me. The aim is to help you make the right decision, as over the years I’ve heard many who have made the wrong decision.
If you’re in pain from training or playing a sport/activity regardless of ability, seek advice from an injury therapist eg a Sports Therapist, Chiropractor, Physiotherapist or Osteopath. Go to a professional who know how to assess the injury site, provide advice and treatment.
I had a client recently who asked for a Sports Massage. I asked why he think he needed one. He stated he had neck pain from an exercise in the gym and his friend told him to get a Sports Massage as it helped his own injury.
There is nothing wrong with getting advice from a friend, but they are completely different to you. Their injury probably won’t be the same as yours. I assessed the neck injury and the client had a trapped nerve which caused a lot of weakness and pain in his arm.
Although Sports Massage & Deep Tissue Massage are good interventions for some symptoms, in this case 100 hours of massage will never get rid of the symptoms.
Also, there is more to pointing at the site of pain, getting a friend or PT to dig their thumb into your shoulder to relieve the pain and then they tell you it’s a rotator cuff injury.
Which rotator cuff muscle is injured? Any Special Tests done to determine which structure is damaged? Is it bursitis? Any tests to eliminate other contributing factors? What’s the early stage, mid and long term stage of rehab? Any nerve issues? Any muscle weaknesses around the shoulder complex?
It’s easy to press on an injury site with anatomy knowledge and say, ‘This is what it is, apply ice/heat and get a deep tissue massage’. But what about the rest of the rehab and preventative work? Why do you have an issue here? Is it the most accurate assessment?
If you’re feeling unwell, you wouldn’t go to a doctor who isn’t qualified? Could you trust what they say? Could you trust that their assessment is reliable and accurate? Could you trust their prescription and advice? I’m pretty sure you would say no.
Therefore seek advice from an sports injury therapist if you have any sports related pain/injuries. Get help asap to speed the recovery up. Speaking from personal & work experience, you will save yourself a lot of pain, money & playing/training time if you do so.
