Found this on a another site talking about benefits of massage for athletes:
Increased circulation - The rhythmically-applied manual pressure of massage enhances the flow of blood and lymph—delivering oxygen and nutrients, and carrying away wastes and toxins. Dr. DiNubile notes that this "can speed recovery and decrease muscle soreness after a hard workout or when recovering from an injury."
Functional scar tissue - "When an athlete treats an injury with rest alone, scar tissue may form in a random pattern and lodge itself within the healthy muscle tissue," explains Baird. "The scar tissue is inhibiting the full potential of that muscle to elongate. However, massage makes this tissue more pliable and aligns it with the muscle fibers, which allows for better healing of the muscle." In addition, massage helps with the microscopic muscle damage from regular exercise that also leaves behind small amounts of scar tissue. The movement and pressure of massage works on the patches of scar tissue to make them functional.
"I was often sore after workouts, but since I've been receiving massage every three weeks or so for the past four years, I find that I can train harder because I feel looser, recover quicker, and experience less pain," says Steve Kempainen of the Central Massachusetts Striders running club.
Muted pain signals - For those experiencing chronic pain, Baird describes the effect of massage as that of a "circuit breaker" between the nervous system and the site of pain. Baird explains: "In immediate response to injury, the nervous system reacts by contracting the muscles. After the initial trauma resolves, however, the nervous system often maintains a message pattern that unnecessarily perpetuates muscle contraction. Massage stimulates receptors that in turn stimulate the nervous system to modulate the signals that have been keeping muscles tense and contributing to pain."
Almost sounds like massage done by a pro could be used to "supercharge" the effects of SD. Drawback would be the cost, but what do you guys think???
Increased circulation - The rhythmically-applied manual pressure of massage enhances the flow of blood and lymph—delivering oxygen and nutrients, and carrying away wastes and toxins. Dr. DiNubile notes that this "can speed recovery and decrease muscle soreness after a hard workout or when recovering from an injury."
Functional scar tissue - "When an athlete treats an injury with rest alone, scar tissue may form in a random pattern and lodge itself within the healthy muscle tissue," explains Baird. "The scar tissue is inhibiting the full potential of that muscle to elongate. However, massage makes this tissue more pliable and aligns it with the muscle fibers, which allows for better healing of the muscle." In addition, massage helps with the microscopic muscle damage from regular exercise that also leaves behind small amounts of scar tissue. The movement and pressure of massage works on the patches of scar tissue to make them functional.
"I was often sore after workouts, but since I've been receiving massage every three weeks or so for the past four years, I find that I can train harder because I feel looser, recover quicker, and experience less pain," says Steve Kempainen of the Central Massachusetts Striders running club.
Muted pain signals - For those experiencing chronic pain, Baird describes the effect of massage as that of a "circuit breaker" between the nervous system and the site of pain. Baird explains: "In immediate response to injury, the nervous system reacts by contracting the muscles. After the initial trauma resolves, however, the nervous system often maintains a message pattern that unnecessarily perpetuates muscle contraction. Massage stimulates receptors that in turn stimulate the nervous system to modulate the signals that have been keeping muscles tense and contributing to pain."
Almost sounds like massage done by a pro could be used to "supercharge" the effects of SD. Drawback would be the cost, but what do you guys think???