Being injured is incredibly frustrating. Not only can you not be as active as you would like; it is also painful. We have all seen over the past decade that painkillers are not the answer to a sports injury, and neither is sitting idly and waiting for the body to heal. Physical therapy is finally getting the recognition it deserves for helping the healing process. The addition of massage therapy is a critical one, too. Having a sports massage in Augusta will help expedite your recovery in many ways, including improved pain relief. If that isn’t enough to convince you that massage is a must for your sports-related injury, here are some other ways that it helps!
It Promotes Good Circulation
When you are injured, your body needs all the oxygen-rich blood supply you can get. Massage is an excellent way to increase blood flow to the injured area to help with muscle recovery and healing. Injuries that don’t have enough blood flow can take longer to heal. Without the necessary oxygen, lactic acid can build up in the injured muscle, leading to increased scar tissue that can ultimately limit mobility. And massage therapy helps to boost tissue metabolism, which encourages the body to heal itself.
Increases Muscle Flexibility
Injuries trigger your muscles to respond by becoming short and tight and lead to painful inflammation that can limit your range of motion. Massage helps your muscles relax and lengthen. When combined with myofascial release, you can experience increased flexibility. And it also helps limit the growth of scar tissue. Massage reduces the overall stress you feel physically, which also impacts your emotional stress.
Injury Prevention for the Future
If you don’t give your body enough time to heal, then reinjury is a serious concern. Every time that you injure a specific muscle, it increases the likelihood that you will experience a reinjury. Massage therapy is a great way to restore the muscle to its pre-injury state so that you can work to increase its strength and limit the risk of reinjury. It also helps to alleviate lumps, knots, and muscle tightness that all increase the risk of injury, not just to the injury site, but to everything that it touches. By using massage to loosen it up, you can effectively work to target strength so that it won’t happen again!
A Sports Massage in Augusta Leads to A Quicker Recovery Period
Your body responds to an injury with inflammation that seeks to limit mobility and protect your body from more injury. It also responds with more white blood cells and fluid being concentrated in the injured area to aid in the recovery process. The swelling, although necessary, can limit the healing response. Massage reduces injury inflammation so that the muscle can move around, get more nutrient rich-blood, and reduce pain and stiffness. It also helps to drain your lymphatic system to eliminate waste and toxins from the body, which expedites the entire healing process.
Pain Reduction
A massage is a great tool for pain relief. Your body responds to injury to protect the area from further damage, but that can also lead to an increase in pain from inflammation. Massage relaxes muscle groups to reduce things like nerve compression, muscle spasms, and muscle contractions that lead to chronic pain. It also works to increase the production of serotonin, which enhances your mood and makes you feel more relaxed overall.
If you are on the injured list, you want to do everything possible to get back out on the playing field and reduce the risk that you will end up there again. Massage and physical therapy are excellent tools that complement each other to get you back on your feet and in top condition to hit the ground running as soon as your body gives you the green light. If you want to expedite your injury recovery, reduce physical and emotional stress, and prevent the area from being injured again, schedule your sports massage in Augusta with us today!