Sports Massage is suitable for the maintenance and general treatment of tight and aching muscles that are symptomatic as a result of sport or general wear & tear. Soft Tissue Therapy, whilst also incorporating the techniques used in Sports Massage, also incorporates more advanced assessment and treatment techniques to treat and manage all minor and major soft tissue injuries and conditions. As a Professional Soft Tissue Therapist, not only am I able to assess and treat all minor and major soft tissue injuries, but I am also trained to assess posture, highlight dysfunctional movement patterns and provide treatment to prevent a lot of common soft tissue injuries from becoming debilitating injuries.

In short, yes. Soft Tissue Therapy is right for anyone, from any walk of life. We all use our bodies for different daily tasks - be that our work, hobbies or even family life and, no matter what these daily tasks are they will, more often than not, result in uneven use of our muscles. This can result in dysfunctional movmement patterns which, if left untreated, will become our "norm". Over time, this will accumulate and will eventually cause pain and discomfort. Soft Tissue Therapy will highlight this before it reaches a debilitating stage - keeping you moving well, pain-free and doing the things you enjoy!

Ideally, I try to encourage people to take a preventative approach to their mobilty and maintenance. A lot of people have the impression that they only need to go to a therapist when they are in pain, they can feel something "pulling" or when things just feel tight and niggly. The harsh truth is that if you are experiencing symptoms like this, you've probably left it too long since your last treatment.

Scheduling regular - fortnightly or even monthly - maintenance sessions, regardless of how active you are (the more active, the more frequently you should have treatment), can help to ensure that you are able to maintain the levels of activity that you enjoy without being hit with halting injuries.

I normally advise that people come to see me - especially if it's their first appointment - after a workout. Due to the intensity of some of the techniques we use, they can sometimes cause some micro trauma within the muscles, rendering them temporarily weaker than usual. This is completely normal and actually triggers the body's natural healing processes which may have, up to this point, not completed the repair process of the damaged tissues. If we were to have this type of deep treatment and then go into a training session where these tissues are put under heavy loads or are pushed to their limits in an endurance event, they may fatigue or be over loaded and injure further.

That being said, there are also a wide range of techniques which are perfectly suitable for pre-event treatment and also some that help serve as part of an effective warm up.