a community of practitioners

Orthopedic or sports massage therapists

I'm looking for some advice from therapists who work in sports or orthopedic massage and were trained to do so. I am continually surprised at how well and quickly many of the techniques work - positional release in particular, when it applies. But I'm still having trouble knowing what is best for athletes and weekend warriors who come in with back pain - the pain they almost always self-diagnose as a "thrown-out back".

I'm trained to assess the difference between muscle and disc involvement, but both back strains and disc injuries are going to need time. What do you do when people come in with back injuries? I love athletes but they almost never come in until they're really injured, but back pain gets people in the door immediately. It's just really hard to resolve, and I don't want to cause further injury. But since it's such a great source of clientele (especially the CrossFit people, they are always injured) I'd like to be able to help.

Any advice? Training/education ideas or experience would be very welcome!

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on December 12, 2016 at 8:17pm

http://softtissuerelease.com/

This guy has a set of DVDs for home study, and it's awesome. He is a British Sports Massage Therapist that came up with soft tissue release. He combined Active Isolated Stretching( which bypasses the stretch response ) and Added Massage movements for even greater effect. Others copied it and called it Active Release. This is one of the first systems I learned where I really started helping people. Check it out.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on December 13, 2016 at 1:54pm

https://www.academyofclinicalmassage.com/product/lumbar-thoracic-re...

I haven't taken this guys courses, but there ya go.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on December 13, 2016 at 2:04pm

http://www.kenthealth.com/product/dvd-programs/dvd-program-with-manual

Here are some very good courses on basic trigger point therapy.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by stephan on April 7, 2017 at 4:07am

Rm Physio Miami

Raul Mosqueira, LMT, received his Massage Therapy certification in 2008. His years of experience have been enriched by practicing in health spas, with Chiropractors, and by partnering with various holistic health care providers.

Raul is in private practice specializing in deep tissue massage, neuromuscular & trigger point therapy, sports massage, circulatory massage, abdominal massage for Women’s health, and energetic healing. Raul works intuitively, with sense of spirit in connection to the individual, providing a deep healing massage with lasting results.

Raul is dedicated to excellence in professionalism by continuing his education in health and healing. Living a joyful and balanced diet is key to providing a great service to others. Raul is proud to be working for Cirque Du Soleil and be their official therapist in Florida.