Overuse Injuries

What are Some of the Contributing Factors Associated with Overuse Injuries?

• Impact force of your feet hitting the ground.
• Running on a hard surface (pavement).
• Changes in running surface; broken pavement, potholes, etc.
• Downhill running.
• Lack of flexibility. Stretch! Stretch! Stretch!
• Muscle weaknesses/imbalances.
• Overstriding, overreaching.
• Poor posture.
• Over distance (running too far).
• Overtraining (see overtraining section).
• Anatomical factors; leg length differences.
• Shoes; improper fit, poor quality, worn out.
• Side of road running; soft/sloped shoulder, sand to pavement.

What can Sports Massage do to Compensate for these Factors?

Sports Massage will help you deal with the muscular issues and injuries which will arise from these overuse factors. Muscle weaknesses/imbalances can be isolated and addressed thru postural analysis and range-of-motion evaluation. Flexibility can be increased thru the proper massage treatment and passive stretching. The discomfort from impact force and running on hard surfaces may be minimized thru consistant massage work during the course of your training.

“Many sports injuries can be prevented. About 60% of the runners I see in my clinic are in trouble because of lack of flexibility or imbalance of their muscle systems.”
Earle Hoerner
Clinical Professor of Rehabilitation
Tufts University

Norm St.Onge is a licensed and nationally certified massage therapist and is the owner of ProTouch Professional Massage & Muscle Therapy in Townsend, MA. He is a member of the American Massage Therapy Association, the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Townsend Business Association. He can be reached at 508.597.5219. Please email questions to Norm St. Onge at protouch@tiac.net.

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