Interesting article about hypermobility...

As this article details, hypermobility is often a desirable quality for many dancers, gymnasts, and athletes. Interesting to read more about the potential link between hypermobility and Juvenile Fibromyalgia Syndrome (JFS). This article also highlights the tendency during clinical assessments to associate joint pain with stiffness, proposing that excessive movement in several joints can often be ignored. Professor Shea found that more research is needed to investigate the link between hypermobility and JFS, and also the recommendations for appropriate exercise programs for this patient group.

To read more about JFS visit: http://www.csp.org.uk/frontline/article/stretching-point

Specific soft tissue techniques

Great training session this week following on from a course provided by Glen Hunter on Specific Soft Tissue Mobilisations (SSTMS). Really interesting to learn more about combining my massage techniques with passive movement at the point in range of discomfort. Also learning about progressing rehab by using soft tissue techniques in combination with active and resisted movements.
More information about SSTM's can be found in this article by Glen Hunter - leading physiotherapist and consultant in performance medicine. 

http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.uwe.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S1356689X98903101#

For more information about the massage techniques I offer, please visit my website: http://www.agmassagebristol.co.uk/sports-massage-bristol

Can changing your running style really help to prevent injury?

Lecturing at the Physios in Sport conference I attended this weekend, Dr Polly McGuigan -an expert in biomechanics - discussed how many runners are opting for a 'barefoot' approach, that aims to change from a rearfoot to forefoot running style.


Although impact through the lower limb is reduced in forefoot running by removing heel strike, greater strain is then placed on the arches of the feet. The process of changing running styles is also in itself an increased injury risk. In the short term at least, the most efficient running style is that which we already have.

If you are considering a change of running style or footwear, make sure you take a gradual approach, allowing your body to slowly adjust.

The dancer and the student physiotherapist in me...

Dancers were found to have 'outstanding accuracy' in tests of proprioception (a sense of self within space) compared to student physiotherapists, in a study by Ramsay & Riddoch held at Birmingham Royal Ballet - demonstrating to the therapist that repetitive practice involved in ballet improves both motor and sensory skills. 

From experience I know how hard dancers train to achieve precision - but I have always felt that dance becomes most interesting when these boundaries are broken...
As my teacher once told me:

''You train in ballet every morning to create structure and alignment, building it up like a delicate vase...
You come into your contemporary classes later that day to smash that vase to pieces''.

Contact me for sports massage in Bristol 

Sports Massage & Trigger Pointing

A study by Grieve et al (2013) that investigated the effectiveness of myofascial trigger point (MTP) therapy for triceps surae dysfunction (calf pain) found that MPT's were found in all participants, and active MTPs decreased to 0% in all participants post treatment. Sample sizes were small however and Grieve et al (2013) acknowledge a risk of researcher bias as the same person who collected data for outcome measures was responsible for performing all the interventions. The study may however inform further research and evidence based practice.

MTP's can be described as taut, palpable nodules within the muscle and can be the source of persistent or referred pain. MTP pressure techniques used within sports and deep tissue massage aim to reduce pain, increase range of movement and allow muscles to work more efficiently.

If you are looking for sports or deep tissue massage and are in the Bristol area, please find links to relevant my website pages below.

Sports Massage in Bristol >

Deep Tissue Massage in Bristol >