Another commonly used technique in sports massage is Tapotement, also known as Percussion. This technique involves both hands alternatively and quickly striking the skin in a rhythmic manner. Tapotement is used over the fleshy areas of the body and increases blood flow and temperature of the skin.
L.O.2
The attached Postural Assessment form shows that the skeletal alignment of the patient is good.
The slight deviations of the upper body are a combination of many factors including height, excessive exercise and poor postural habits. As the patient is tall, the main postural muscles are under a greater pressure and while they contain Type I fibres, the muscles may have fatigued causing the forwarding of the head. Excessive exercise is also having an affect upon the clients posture as too much emphasis seems to have
been placed on the anterior muscles, most notably the pectoral’s and rectus abdominis causing shoulders and thoracic spine to become more rounded.
As the rounded shoulders and forward head could be a result of tight chest muscles I would be recommend that the patient stretches the chest through either an assisted fly stretch or standard fly stretch (extending arms behind back until hands joint and interlock). In conjunction with the chest stretches, back extensions could also be undertaken to strengthen the erector spinae group.
Other exercises and stretches would need to be undertaken to correct the imbalance between the rectus abdominis and tranversus abdominis. To stretch the rectus abdominis I would recommend a cobra stretch where by the patient lies prone and props themselves up using their elbows or hands and to strengthen the tranversus abdominis I would suggest trying ‘the plank’; patient lies prone, lifts body off the floor and holds in position (so that only the feet and forearms are touching the floor).
L.O.3
Cryotherapy and Thermal therapy are two contrasting types of treatment which both have their own therapeutic uses.
Cryotherapy uses cold or ice treatments to mainly treat injuries in their acute phase. The cooling properties of the treatments aid in controlling and reducing swelling, pain and even bleeding through vasoconstriction. Cryotherapy can also be of a benefit during deep friction work; reducing the pain experienced by the patient.
Heat Therapy is the polar opposite to Cryotherapy and involves the use of heat, which like Cryotherapy is also used to reduce pain, but unlike most cold treatments, is often
used on more chronic, post-acute injuries. Another noticeable contrast between the two, with the exception of a few treatments, is that there is no direct contact with skin throughout Thermal Therapy.
Cryotherapy can include various forms of ice (crushed ice, ice cubes or ice baths), however, one of the most practical ways of using ice is through the use of an polystyrene ice cup. Other media includes frozen peas, cooling gels and cold sprays which can be applied directly to the skin.
While Cryotherapy is generally inexpensive, Thermal Therapy can be less readily available and often more expensive. Thermal Therapy treatments range from gel packs and heat sprays to infra-red lamps and paraffin wax, other treatments also consist of sauna’s, steam rooms and hot baths. Benefits are increased circulation due to vasodilation; where by the smooth muscle of a blood vessel relaxes, increasing the size of the lumen of the blood vessel. Other benefits include the reduction of joint stiffness, allowing a larger range of movement, the rate in which soft-tissue injuries are able to heal is also increased.
L.O.4
Bandaging and strapping aid us in numerous ways; preventing unwanted movement at a joint, compressing soft tissue and reducing swelling, offering support or restricting movements that cause further damage. So for a Sports Therapist the various different
types of bandaging, strapping and tapes act as important tools in treating, rehabilitating and preventing injuries. As with all products, there is a range of bandages and strapping
Ward (2004) states: “Bandaging is the special piece of material used to cover a dressed wound, or offer acute support to an injured joint, such as a sling.” Strapping is also similar to bandages in terms of offering support and tends to be non-adhesive. Some of the different types of bandages available include foam rubber padding that can directly cover areas that may be subjected to degrees of friction and rubbing; padding can also be used to compress areas of soft tissue damage. Sporty cohesive is another available type of bandage/strapping which unlike many other tapes, sticks to itself rather than the skin making it very much, user friendly. Similar to Sporty Cohesive is Underwrap, this type of bandage/strapping simply goes underneath cohesive tape, and this not only compresses the tissue but eliminates the pain associated with removing cohesive tape directly from the skin.
Other products used in association with bandaging and strapping are different types of non-elastic, cohesive tapes. One of many different tapes available is Zinc Oxide tapes, which due to its non-elastic properties can restricts or stop movement at a joint. For example, further damage to a wrist hyper extension injury can be stopped by applying a strip of Zinc Tape from the palm of the hand to the wrist.
Bibliography
Tortora, G.J. and Grabowski, S.R. (2003): Principles of Anatomy & Physiology,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ward, K. (2004): Hands On Sports Therapy, Thomson
Cash, M (1996): Sport & Remedial Massage Therapy, Ebury Press, London
POSTURAL ASSESSMENT SHEET – Student Name: James Clive
Grading key: Deviation: None – 0; Slight – 1; Moderate – 2; Severe – 3
Right – R; Left - L
