SPORTS MASSAGE KEEPS RUNNERS ON THEIR FEET!
After completing the gruelling 26 miles of the 2009 Flora London Marathon, runners running on behalf of The Stroke Association received a welcome sports massage. Provided by 7 volunteer Therapists from the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT), each runner received a 30 minute treatment.
Lead Therapist on the day, Colin Sherwood from the FHT describes the treatment that each runner received, “At about 1.40pm the first runner arrived and so it continued until the last runner at about 6pm. The treatment given to each runner was basically the same but differed in the depth of the treatment and the area that they wanted treated. Popular areas included the back and front of the leg, the upper leg and the lower back. Obviously their feet needed special attention as many were blistered with blackened toes. The shoulder and pectoral girdle was another area requiring massage – which is not surprising when you consider they have been holding their arms in a running position for many hours.”
This is the second year running that The Stroke Association has called upon the voluntary services of the Federation of Holistic Therapists, to offer sports therapy massage to all its runners. With over 20,000 Sports, Holistic and Beauty Therapists as members and over 5,000 of these Sports Therapists, the FHT was an obvious choice for The Stroke Association. Beverley Silke from The Stroke Association was pleased that the FHT team were on hand,
“Our runners dedicate so much time and effort to raising funds for The Stroke Association it is nice to be able to treat them on marathon day. The service offered by the FHT team is fantastic as, after completing this gruelling race, we are able to offer them something that will actually assist in their road to recovery. For the second year running we have been able to rely upon the expertise of the FHT and their team of 7 sports therapists, who did a fantastic job on the day. Our runners really appreciated their healing hands – and so did we”
Lead FHT Therapist Colin continues further about the day’s activities, “All the Therapists on the day had such a great time, listening to each runner’s story as we were massaging. Listening to them, I feel, was an important part of the treatment as they all had such enthusiasm and were on such an adrenalin high that they needed to release this as much as having a massage!”
The FHT are also keen to increase public awareness of Sports Therapy and Massage and dispel the myth that you have to be a sports performer or athlete to benefit from it. In actual fact Sports Massage can be beneficial to anyone who undertakes regular exercise it can ease a range of problems including back pain, frozen shoulder, runners knee, tennis elbow plus other soft tissue problems affecting muscles, tendons and ligaments. FHT members adhere to a Code of Ethics and Professional Practice.
For further details on the FHT on 0844 875 2022 or visit the FHT website at www.fht.org.uk for details on The Stroke Association visit www.stroke.org.uk