Sports massage therapy is a basic & natural art that when performed expertly is difficult to surpass in what it can offer the athlete & the general public. Sports massage therapy is non-surgical & non-pharmacological. It is therefore non-invasive, low-risk & holistic, in other words it works to support the body’s own healing processes. There is little to compare with sports massage therapy except perhaps exercise itself!

There has been a fair amount of research published on the effectiveness of sports massage therapy, although more is definitely needed. There is gathering evidence to demonstrate that sports massage therapy is effective in treating pain but more well-formulated research is required into the various technical applications of this type of deep tissue massage. There is a need for practise-based evidence.

It is also important that the sports massage therapy profession maintains high standards in training & regulating its many practitioners.

Massage has been used to aid health since ancient times. Sports massage therapy has been developed to treat sportspeople & can be helpful in treating many musculo-skeletal conditions. These include muscle strains, sprains, shin splints, various forms of tendonitis, runner’s knee (tight ITB’s), tennis & golfer’s elbow, muscle imbalances & tight muscles generally.