If you’ve made the decision that your body’s aching muscles or recent injury needs some attention then visiting a sports massage or soft tissue therapist is a good step to ease your aches and pains.

Booking an appointment can be done in all the ways that we’re now so used to, but I think a good first step is to make a short phone call to your chosen therapist.

Sports massage therapists tend to be self employed so there’s a good chance you’ll be talking to the person who will be providing you with your treatment.

This gives the therapist a chance to ask you questions about your aims of treatment and what you’re looking to get from your session, but more importantly, it gives you the chance to ask questions of your therapist to be sure you’ve made the right choice, to start to build a rapport and confidence in them.

Your therapist will likely take the time to tell you the structure of your appointment so that you understand what will happen and what to expect.

GETTING IN TOUCH IS QUICK AND EASY

Did you know that when a Massage Therapist asks you for your medical history and any current medications, that they are not being nosey?

They need to know this as some conditions are NOT suitable for massage or may require a therapist who has a specific qualification.

Bangor Massage Therapy

Here are some important things that you should know or be aware of that will very likely happen at your appointment.

• Do I have to remove my clothes?

Firstly, this is YOUR appointment and you are in complete control of everything that happens during this time, your therapist will discuss with you what clothes they would ideally like you to remove, YOU are free to remove as little clothing as you wish and are comfortable with. If you’d rather not remove any clothing then a good therapist will be able to adapt their treatment to work around your requirement.

• Does sports massage hurt?

Sports Massage isn’t a relaxing treatment, sports massage therapists will actively seek out and hone in on muscles that cause pain and work through those areas to restore the muscle tissue, so at times it may be uncomfortable but it shouldn’t be outright painful.

All treatments should be given to within your pain threshold, a good therapist will continually communicate with you whilst they’re treating you, checking that the pressure being applied is suitable for you.

As an experienced therapist, I can say that we get very good at reading clients’ non verbal cues, be that a shake of a leg, circling of a foot or a deep sigh, which will lead us to reducing the pressure on your muscles, without you having to ask.

• Will my therapist use tools other than their hands to treat me?

This will depend on what other qualifications your therapist has, there are an array of additional tools a therapist can use such as suction cups, dry needling, kinesiology tape and massage guns are just a few tools that can be used.

At Muscle Kare Therapy I may use a warmed bamboo stick to help me release stubborn areas of muscle tissue.

What do you expect to get from your sports massage therapist?

Muscle Kare has built up extensive experience in working in the clinic, each person is treated as the individual that you are, each treatment session is tailored to your needs and that of your body.

I aim to make everyone feel comfortable and at ease each time you visit my clinic.

When you leave the clinic after your treatment, that’s not the end of it, you will likely be given exercises to complete at home which will help to either strengthen certain muscles or increase mobility in certain muscles.

We’ll give you a call around a week after your treatment to check how things are and how the homework is going!

We can then access it at that point if further treatment sessions are required

We like to keep things simple, and only require 3 pieces of information from you; Name, Contact Number and your Postcode.

This allows us to reach out to you, to conduct a quick over the phone assessment of your symptoms and a little bit of background information about the injury and the circumstances the injury has occurred, along with any treatment (professional or otherwise) that you have tried.

Then we’d look to arrange an appointment when suits you best.

When we get in contact with you, we may offer immediate advice to give you some comfort.