Contraindications
Sports Massage Task 2 Jack Morgan
INTRODUCTION
A contraindication within Sports Massage is something which causes a massage not to be performed at all or within that certain area. The six contraindications that I will be explaining are; skin conditions; bruises; cuts; pregnancy; broken bones and cancer.
SKIN CONDITIONS
Skin conditions are viruses within the skin which can be passed on or spread. One skin condition which is very common and highly likely to come across is eczema. If you were to come across a spot of eczema on a client you would completely avoid the area as eczema is easily spread across the body. If you are to massage on skin conditions you can spread them around the clients body, aggrivate the condition and also catch the skin condition yourself. Some examples of skin conditions that you may come across are eczema, warts and ringworm.
HEMATOMA (BRUISES)
A bruise is internal bleeding underneath the skin.Bruises are the result of a knock or injury to a certain part of the body. A bruise is left because of blood rushing to the injured area to allow a recovery process. if you were to massage over a fresh bruise (not yellow) you could interrupt the recovery process making the bruise a lot worse and causing the client pain, you would also make the bruise bigger as a lot more blood would rush to that area.
CUTS
A cut in the skin can be deep or it may only just break the skin. If a client is to have a cut on the part of the body you are massaging you could aim to avoid it as the increase of blood in that area from the massage could cause the cut to open up again and start bleeding, therefore you should wait until a scar or scab has appeared. Even when a scab appears you would still have to be careful when massaing as you could take the scab off and cause the full healing process to restart.
PREGNANCY
If a client is pregnant you would not massage on her at all. This is because the increase of blood pumping around the body as well as the vasodilation of the blood vessels can affect the pregnancy of the client. The most dangerous time to massage a pregnant woman is at the beginning stages; this is because the baby is at an unstable stage and needs all of the nutrients it can get. massaging a pregnant woman can increase the chances of misscarrages.
BROKEN BONES/FRACTURES
If the client has any broken bones you wouldn't massage that area unless the client has permission that the bone has recovered from their doctor. if you were to massage on the area and the bone wasn't fully repaired you could cause further injury and pain to the client. When massaging a client who may have a broken bone or fracture if you were to do this it would cause an immense amount of pain to the client and also would interupt and ruin the healing process.
CANCER
If a client knew that they had cancer you would not massage on them at all as if you did you could break up the cancer and spread it around the body. Once broken up cancer would then spread around the body through the lymphatic system. Even if the client was to get clearance from their GP you still be massaging them at your own risk. The techniques which would break up and spread the cancer would be deep thumb kneading and cross friction. if you were to come across a lump deep within an area you would first warn the participant as it may not be a knot in the muscle, it could be a tumor.