Cathy Kelly Sports & Remedial Massage Therapist

The SMA held its AGM yesterday evening - thank you to those who were able to attend! The AGM is our opportunity to let members know a bit more about the huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to make us a great PA - and to have a say in the direction we take. We really appreciate you giving up your time to attend, listen and vote. Here's to another busy and successful 12 months!

Fully booked for the next two weeks as many of my clients prepare for the Dublin Marathon and I also am keeping my regular clients sorted too. Thank you for keeping me busy and good luck to everyone with their forthcoming sporting events. 🤩

Update - still having Phone issues at the moment with switching contracts 🙈- can be contacted by iMessage, WhatsApp and Facebook but it’s going straight to voicemail on calling. Will hopefully be resolved by tomorrow (Sat) finally. Thank you # don’tuseVodafone 🙈

Phone issues at the moment switching contracts 🙈- can be contacted by iMessage, WhatsApp and Facebook but going straight to voicemail on calling. Will hopefully be resolved by tomorrow. Thank you

Update- now fully booked all week. Thank you.
Cancellation tomorrow night (Tues) at 6.40pm please PM or text to book in. Limited appointments also available this Fri evening and Saturday.

Update - now filled
Cancellation appt available tomorrow evening (Tues) at 6.40pm. PM or text to book in. Thanks

Wishing all my clients a very happy and peaceful Christmas. Thank you for your loyal custom and best wishes for a fabulous 2023. 🎄🎅❤️

Cancellation appointments tomorrow (Saturday) now available at 12.20 and 3.40pm. PM or text to book. Thanks

Cancellation appt tomorrow (Sat) at 2pm. PM or text to book in. Thanks

Cancellation appts available today at 1.20pm and 2.10pm (Friday)
PM or text to book in. Thanks

Cathy Kelly Sports & Remedial Massage Therapist updated their business hours.

🔈 TENNIS ELBOW VS. GOLFER'S ELBOW - WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

While many people are familiar with the names of these conditions, there is less widespread understanding about how they differ. Both tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, and golfer’s elbow, or medial epicondylitis, are injuries to the tendons attaching your forearm muscles to the bone at your elbow. The “epicondyle” part of epicondylitis refers to the bony bumps or protrusions at your elbow.

Lateral epicondylitis affects the tendons attached to the outer (lateral) side of your elbow, which are connected in turn to the muscles that extend your wrist backward and straighten your fingers. Medial epicondylitis affects tendons connected to the inner (medial) side of your elbow, which are attached to the muscles that flex your wrist and contract your fingers when you grip something.

Both injuries are usually the result of repetitive strain on the tendons, and although you don’t have to be a golfer or tennis player to experience them, the repeated forceful motions involved in both sports make them very common.
The anatomical structures involved in tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow are very similar and the symptoms are also similar, but they appear on opposite sides of the elbow and arm.

SYMPTOMS

Common symptoms of tennis elbow include:
• Pain that radiates from the outside of your elbow and down your forearm
• Tenderness on the outside of your elbow
• Weakness in your forearm or a weak grip
• Pain when you grip things, twist something or, if you play tennis, especially with backhand strokes

Golfer’s elbow symptoms are similar, but occur on the inside of your arm and include:
• Pain and tenderness on the inside of your elbow
• Pain that radiates down your arm from the inside of your elbow
• Weakness in your hand or wrist
• Numbness or tingling in your ring and little fingers
• Pain when you grip or twist things
• Pain when you flex your wrist

Both tennis elbow and golfer's elbow symptoms usually start gradually and get worse over time.

CAUSES

Both conditions are types of tendonitis, or inflammation of a tendon, and both are commonly caused by overuse. This may be due to excessive force on a regular basis (like hitting a tennis or golf ball) or due to other repetitive activities that involve the forearm muscles. The tendons over time can progress from inflammation, to partial thickness tears, and finally full thickness tears. Painters, plumbers, and carpenters or anyone performing repetitive gripping and lifting activities are also prone to both tennis and golfer’s elbow.

TREATMENT

Fortunately, most cases of tennis elbow and golfer's elbow respond well to conservative treatments. Surgery is usually not necessary, although complete recovery can take weeks or even months, depending on the severity of the condition. As with other forms of tendonitis, the most important aspect of treatment is to reduce the amount of strain on the affected tendons. This may include resting the arm, using a brace or athletic taping, wrist splints, and once healed, correcting improper technique/form to prevent the recurrence of the injury.

Other treatments may include:
• Ice – depending on the severity, icing the affected area may be helpful for reducing pain and inflammation
• Anti-inflammatory medications – medications such as ibuprofen or naproxen are commonly recommended
• Stretching exercises – exercises which stretch the involved forearm muscles can help reduce strain on the inflamed tendons
• Physical therapy – stretches and strengthening exercises through physical therapy can aid and accelerate the recovery process
• Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) – “blood spinning” therapy is another option you may have heard of; this is done for many professional athletes
• Cortisone injections – in severe cases, your doctor may recommend cortisone injections for pain relief and to reduce inflammation
• Surgery – if all else fails, surgery yields high success rates

Let's stay pain free and share the knowledge!

Other sports therapists will relate!! 😂 happy Christmas to all my fab clients and to you all. Stay safe and well in 2022 🙏

🔈 ACCURATE

Another very good post by Healthy street this time focusing on Frozen shoulder - massage therapy and exercise can help this significantly

🔊 FROZEN SHOULDER - CAN MASSAGE AND EXERCISE HELP?

Frozen shoulder is a condition where an individual will experience pain and stiffness in the shoulder and is not able to lift the arm over the head. Frozen shoulder causes stiffness and restricted range of movement in the shoulder. This condition is medically known as "adhesive capsulitis." However, the adhesive capsulitis is a specific condition where there is a slow onset of stiffness and pain in one shoulder due to inflammation and tightening of the joint capsule. Usually the terms frozen shoulder and adhesive capsulitis are used alternately.

💡 PHASES

Clinical presentation is typically in three overlapping
phases:

🔁 Phase 1 – lasting 2 months to 9 months. Painful
phase, with progressive and increasing pain on
movement. Pain tends to be constant and diagnosis
in the early stages before movement is lost can be
difficult.

🔁 Phase 2 – lasting 4 months to 12 months. Stiffening
or freezing, where there is gradual reduction of pain
but stiffness persists with considerable restriction in
range of motion. Pain pattern changes from constant
to end range pain of reduced intensity.

🔁 Phase 3 – lasting 12 months to 42 months.
Resolution or thawing phase, where there is
improvement in range of motion with resolution of stiffness. End range pain may persist until full
resolution.

💡 TREATMENT

In most of the cases adhesive capsulitis resolves on its own over a period of a year to year-and-a-half. Treatment for adhesive capsulitis basically focuses on alleviating pain and trying to preserve as much range of motion as possible in the affected shoulder.

➡️ EXERCISE

Stretching exercises are usually the cornerstone of treating frozen shoulder. Here are just a few.

1. Cross-body arm stretch
2. Pendulum stretch
3. Arm circles
4. Towel stretch

➡️ MASSAGE

Massage therapy is very beneficial in treating frozen shoulder as it increases the blood circulation to the injured region and also reduces the formation of scar tissue. Regular massage should be done to reduce the muscle stiffness. The pain and stiffness usually gets relieved after several massage treatments.

There are various combinations of techniques done by a professional massage therapist, which provide relief from shoulder pain and help in the recovery stage.

▪️DEEP TISSUE MASSAGE

One of the common techniques used to treat frozen shoulder is deep-tissue massage. In this technique, the massage therapist applies constant pressure to the muscles in order to release the scar tissue or adhesions, which may be causing the shoulder pain.
Shiatsu is a Japanese form of deep-tissue massage, which involves deep pressure on certain regions of the body. These are called acupressure points and helps in controlling the energy flow ("Ki" in Japanese) across the body and thus results in decrease in pain. Deep-tissue massage techniques should not be done in case of acute shoulder pain, swelling or inflammation, as it may aggravate the condition.

▪️TRIGGER POINT THERAPY

Trigger point therapy is another massage technique, which benefits the frozen shoulder. In this technique, a steady pressure is applied on certain targeted points within the muscles. This helps in relieving the muscle spasms.

▪️HEAT THERAPY

Heat therapy is also very helpful in treating the frozen shoulder. It can be applied before or after a massage. Heat therapy can be also done for trigger point massage for frozen shoulder. It helps in relaxing the muscles and decreasing pain. Mild heat can be applied for multiple times daily using pads, which are heated an hour before application.

source: Harvard Medical School, British Orthopaedic Association.

Another good post by these guys on Rotator cuff Syndrome

🔈 ROTATOR CUFF SYNDROME
What Does A Torn Rotator Cuff Feel Like?

Rotator cuff injury is one of the common causes of shoulder pain in individuals. To ensure that your shoulder pain is only because of torn rotator cuff, it is important to study the causes of pain, symptoms and also the reason of such condition. It is important to know what it feels like to have a torn rotator cuff and how long does rotator cuff injury take to heal. This information can give you an insight into understanding the possibility of rotator cuff in your case and prompt you to seek timely medical opinion.

Torn rotator cuff can be defined as a tear in one or more of the tendons of the four rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder. This rotator cuff tear can be chronic or acute due to pathological reason or traumatic injury.

What Does A Torn Rotator Cuff Feel Like?
When you wonder what it feels like to have a torn rotator cuff, you need to know the signs and symptoms of torn rotator cuff. Some of the commonest signs of what rotator cuff looks like include:

Pain
The pain occurring from rotator cuff injury occurs at the outer side of shoulder and the upper arm. Such pain also occurs while performing overhead activities or usually happens in the night. If in case the torn rotator cuff is serious, then the pain might awaken the patients from sleep and make them feel stressed.

Decreased Strength
Strength of each rotator cuff tendons can be tested separately by the doctor. They can isolate each tendon and work to find out the extent of tear on each one of them. If in case, significant tears have occurred, the patient will find it difficult to raise their arms over head. Individuals might also find it difficult to hold arm directly out from the body and this is one of the prominent signs of rotator cuff tear.

Inability To Do Normal Tasks
Individuals suffering from rotator cuff tear find it difficult to perform their day to day activities, which include combing their hair, sleeping on the affected shoulder, hooking or unhooking their bra buttons etc. While approaching the doctor patient should ensure to specify activities which have got limited due to shoulder pain.

On average, with appropriate treatment for a torn rotator cuff, it may take around four to six months to heal. However, it depends on the severity of the injury, type of treatment and the rehabilitation.

EXERCISE TO PREVENT SHOULDER PAIN

Pendulum exercise
Stand with your good hand resting on a chair. Let your other
arm hang down and try to swing it gently backwards and forwards and in a circular motion.
Repeat about 5 times. Try this 2–3 times a day.

Shoulder stretch
Stand and raise your shoulders. Hold for 5 seconds. Squeeze your shoulder blades back and together and hold for 5 seconds. Pull your shoulder blades downward and hold
for 5 seconds. Relax and repeat 10 times.

Door lean
Stand in a doorway with both arms on the wall slightly above your head. Slowly lean forward until you feel a stretch in the
front of your shoulders. Hold for 15–30 seconds.
Repeat 3 times. This exercise isn’t suitable if you have a shoulder impingement.

For students - a great wee post to help with palpation assessment in Level 4 Sports Massage

🔈 RELATING SCAPULAR LANDMARKS TO SPINE LEVEL

The static musculoskeletal (structural) examination uses superficial anatomic landmarks that help the physician "see the forest for the trees." Sometimes, slight asymmetries are missed, but aligning two or three landmarks makes the asymmetry obvious. Some anatomic landmarks are important for finding the spinal vertebral levels. The spine of the scapula is typically at the level of T3, and the inferior angle of the scapula is typically at the level of the spinous process of T7 and transverse processes of T8.