A few words from Paula:

Who is it for? 
The simple and quick answer is: for everyone that moves, everyone that feels they cannot move, and everyone who wishes to move freely and without pain. 

What is it? 
Let us first take a moment to discuss the word 'sport' in the title.
Sports Therapy is not just for sport related injuries nor is it an exclusive treatment for sports people and athletes.
Many injuries that are the result of sport also occur in everyday life such as the prolonged sitting in front of a laptop and scrolling on our phones; or occupational injuries such as a repetitive strain, lifting ever growing children, DIY, a fall, gardening, or sometimes they simply seem to appear from nowhere.
We are all athletes within our own right so technically, the term 'sports' is directly applicable to you, not the activity.

Sports Therapy is similar to Physiotherapy, in that it is specifically concerned with the prevention of injury and rehabilitating you back to optimum levels of functional, occupational and sports specific fitness by incorporating both physiological and pathological processes to prepare you for training, competition or any daily activity.

What can you expect from your therapy sessions?
My aim, from the moment your treatment begins, is to ensure that you begin on a pathway of hands-on treatment which is both safe and effective whilst applying the latest methods of evidence based practice.
Your initial session will involve me taking a detailed history regarding not just your injury, but taking into account the whole of your body. - additional niggles, previous injuries, historical pain - they all add to the picture as to how your body moves + functions, what it avoids, and how it compensates, which can very often be as to why you are now seated on my treatment couch. This full assessment will enable me to gain a clearer understanding as to the source/s of the problem - and sometimes the answer may surprise you!

Your treatment will consist of soft tissue therapy, which after the aforementioned assessment, will entail the treatment and management of the areas causing, direct or indirect pain resulting in the dysfunction of the musculoskeletal system. It is a very hands-on treatment usually combining deep tissue massage; facilitated stretching and homecare advice to ensure a successful outcome for even chronic or long-term problems.

Deep Tissue Massage:
A technique focusing on the deeper layer of muscle tissue with its aim being to release chronic patterns of tension held within the body through slow strokes and deep finger pressure on the contracted areas, either following or going across the fibres of the muscles, tendons and fascia. This treatment also helps to break up and eliminate scar tissue.
Deep tissue massage usually focuses on more specific areas and may cause some soreness during or right after the massage. 

Remedial Massage:
One of the most effective ways to prevent and treat muscles injuries and pain based on the fact that your soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia) respond to touch. Most of the pain you hold is myofascial (soft tissue) in origin. Trigger points (which are sensitive points within muscles that radiate/refer pain to various parts of the body) can and often mimic many conditions. Muscles not only move our joints, but help stabilise them, thus providing an armour for internal organs, and minor problems with these functions causes much more pain than most people realise. Most headaches, for example, originate in the muscles of the head and neck. Much abdominal and pelvic pain can be caused by trigger points in the abdominal and pelvic muscles. Low back pain and sciatic pain are far more likely to originate from our muscles than from issues arising within our intervertebral discs.
Although the current pain may have resulted from specific injuries, RSI (repetitive strain injuries), or your occupation/hobbies, the vast majority originates in postural (structural) alignment problems that often stem back to childhood and adolescence.
Treatment here employs massage techniques designed to treat both deep and superficial tissues, not dissimilar to those used in sports/deep tissue massage. The remedial massage therapist uses skilled manipulation combined with in-depth knowledge of anatomy and physiology to bring about pain relief, correcting and normalizing the body’s muscles and soft tissues. Soft Tissue Therapy.


Other treatment modalities that could be used in a treatment session include:
Myofascial release techniques
Functional Integrated Cupping
Kinesio or K-taping techniques (Rock Doc)
IASTM – tool assisted massage