Hours gained: 4.5
Total hours: 92.5
I came half an hour early to the clinic as my lecture finished early. I didn’t have any clients till later and so I set up my plinth and area. Five BUCS players came into the clinic requesting a quick pre-game massage which I did. I massaged each girl for 5 minutes as that’s all I had time for. I made sure I didn’t work too deep into the muscles as I mainly wanted to increase the blood the legs. I used a quick effleurage and then petrissage followed by tapotement and then I effleuraged again. This took me up to my own client. He was a Sports Scholar and came in for a massage on his legs as he had a game the next day and wanted to be relaxed. I mentioned that you should leave at least 24 hours before you play if you want a deep massage but he said he did that all the time (Nunes et al, 2016). I felt like I did well in these massages as I was very professional in making conversation and I had enough confidence to keep the conversation flowing whilst I was massaging these clients.
The next appointment was a follow-up appointment for a lady who had left Achilles tendinopathy in the reactive stage. The pain had improved ever since she decreased her swimming training which was good. She had been doing her exercises and she felt like they still worked for her as she was only seen one week before. I checked ROM of the ankle and they were all full range with a stiff end feel when dorsiflexing both ankles. I massaged her calf to start the treatment as they were tight and if I loosened them up it wouldn’t pull the tendon as much. I then reviewed the exercises again to make sure she was on the right track. This session finished twenty minutes beforehand which never happens with me. It felt like I was rushing through this client as I knew I had back to back clients and needed time to write up the notes too. In order to prevent this from happening next time, I could write some notes down through the conversation in shorthand. I know this can be annoying as a client, however, it is better than having the feeling of being rushed out.
The next client was also a follow-up who was suffering from pain in her right knee which was diagnosed as a lateral meniscus tear. I checked the pain levels and clinical measures to see that they all had improved. She felt herself put more weight on that knee now. This person was a runner and had doubts about not training so I checked to make sure the anti-gravity treadmill was free and put her on there. She also mentioned to me that running was her way of coping with her depression and anxiety and that that was helping her a lot but not being able to do it was affecting her mentally too. That was the main reason I chose to put the client on the treadmill. The settings used were 75% body weight on a slight incline, running at 18mph. After running for 25 minutes, I checked exercises to find that I could progress some of them. From partial wall sit to full wall sit. From a high sit to stand, I made her go a little lower by finding something that was lower than the last platform. This session I felt like I really helped someone with their mental health and therefore with her rehabilitation program. After the anti-gravity treadmill, the client seemed to add more energy into her exercises and she seemed more happy and positive about her rehabilitation and injury.
The last client I had for the day was a raiders player requesting full leg massage. I tested ROMs to find that they were full and then massaged the client. I found a lot of adhesions over the lateral side of the quadriceps and so I worked into that for a prolonged time.
Nunes, G. S., UrioBender, P., Menezes, F. S., Yamashitafuji, I., Vargas, V. Z. and Wageck, B. (2016) Massage therapy decreases pain and perceived fatigue after long-distance Ironman triathlon: a randomised trial. Journal of Physiotherapy. Vol. 62, No. 2: 83-87.