AIBU to think that a Sports Massage Therapist is as good as a Physio?

[Budleaxoxo]

I asked for recommendations for a physio as currently have a bad back. Someone I know gave me the details of one. When I turned up, it transpired that she was a sports massage therapist and not a physio.
Anyway, I decided to give it a go and found it helped a lot with my bad back.

Do others think that a sports and massage therapist can be just as effective as a Physio?

I can't decide if to try and find a physio for further treatment or just stick with the sports and massage therapist.

I went to a sports therapist who also taught Pilates and did massage and she was better than any physio I’ve seen for my many issues as she was all about injuries. I suspect that often it simply comes down to some individuals being better than others at listening and evaluating injuries.

YANBU. A sports therapist sorted me out in one session when I put my back out. I was bent double and she told me I'd be back to normal in 36 hours and she was right, literally to the hour. She was a tiny woman with the strength of an ox who usually works with rugby teams! I wouldn't use anyone else now, in fact I'm booked to see her next week for a shoulder problem.

I think it depends what issue you're trying to resolve, really - sports massage can be brilliant for loads of things in my experience, especially problems that are caused by tight muscles. I had a back problem that was caused by extreme muscle tightness from hunching over a laptop, and sports massage was brilliant for that. I would 100% go to them again! Also really helped with an ankle problem I had that was caused by tight calf muscles. But there are some things you'd be better with an actual physiotherapist for, eg rehab after a serious injury, shoulder impingement, tendinitis etc. Physiotherapists can also set you exercises to do every day at home. Some physio is about very tiny, gentle movements and doesn't involve any massage at all.

I do sport and largely it's more about the therapist than the style of therapy. I was indeed kept going 95% by a wonderful sports massage person

There will be some cases where you need to go to a qualified physio though - e.g. Shockwave therapy for plantar fascitis, or where you need a diagnosis and rehab plan.

It depends - sports massage can be really effective for tight muscles, but for things like tears, ligament damage, or anything complex you need a physio.

Chiropractors, on the other hand, can be downright dangerous - people have suffered irreversible spinal damage from chiropractic 'manipulation'. Bloody quacks!

Yes, this sports massage therapist had the strength of Goliath! I can't help thinking that arthritis in the hands must be be an Occupational hazard for sports massage therapists.

As a Sports Massage therapist, I found that most people came to me because they got a sheet of exercises from a physio. The physios I know are excellent at rehab, but generally, if it's bad backs, muscle strains and pains then massage is more hands on and therefore often more effective. I studied anatomy and physiology for 3 years (higher level) and put hundreds of hours of practical training in. Like many, I studied pilates and yoga too so offer advice on stretching etc. A lot of younger people coming in to the industry now seen to combine it with personal training to maximise their income. There are a lot of shortcuts to qualification now too, so I'd always seek out someone who has been practicing for a number of years with a good reputation. I used to see some people practicing outside their remit. So for example, if you have an injury, please ensure your Sports massage Therapist is Level 4 qualified. I worked for 15 years purely by reputation and I never had to advertise.

Depends on the issue really

Depends on the injury, I think. My partner saw a deep tissue massage therapist who works a lot with athletes. He’d had a frozen shoulder for 2 years and was always popping painkillers. I’m not sure what the therapist did to him but I think she basically broke him and rebuilt him. He went home and slept like a log, and then the next day he was cured. He had almost the full range of movement back. It was the weirdest thing! He has full movement now and goes back once a year for a ‘top up’ just to stop it happening again.

YABU, it’s like saying a nurse did a great job stitching my wound up so are nurses as good as surgeons?

They’re two different jobs, physios can provide sports massages, but they do a whole lot more than that, so if you’re just looking for a massage see a sports massage therapist, but if you’re looking for someone to diagnose, treat and manage your back pain then see a physio.

I find sports massage helps with maintenance, but for an actual injury/problem a physio will "fix" it. Both are good, and you need to pick the right one for what you need. There isn't a hierarchy, they do different things...

Was she a Sports Massage Therapist, or a Graduate Sports Therapist (I’m the latter)? They are not quite the same thing, the 3 years of our degree covers things like exercise rehab, anatomy, sports injuries/diagnosis and soft tissue techniques the same way that a physiotherapy degree does but in more depth because it’s the focus of the qualification. Unfortunately it is less regulated at the moment so not held to the same standards as physio but there are many talented STs out there that would definitely be a better fit for some people.

Physiotherapists are worth their weight in gold in my experience, but you do have to follow their 'sheets of exercises' religiously. Mine fixed my chronic leg pain (so bad I could barely walk) when the GPs and specialists were just throwing painkillers at it. Massage alone would not have been able to fix that issue, I had to learn the correct exercises to fix my body.

I don't think you can say which is better, it depends what your needs are....additionally both may have additional qualifications. I do think though (I used to work alongside and manage NHS rehab staff including physios) that whoever you see needs to know their diagnostic limitations. Much more harm than good can be done by treating something without knowing what you are treating.

No, absolutely not. A good massage therapist is of course great for tight muscles, but my physio (very hands on, you certainly don't just get a sheet of exercises) does a lot more than massage - she does ultrasound, acupuncture. manipulation as well. But crucially she also says when it needs more looking into. Note massage therapist isn't a protected title so anyone can say they are with minimal training

This is a really important point. I was seeing a physio for months for a knee problem that never seemed to really get better. Eventually I went to a doctor who sent me for an MRI and told me that I’d torn the ligaments and the meniscus and needed surgery. No amount of physio was going to correct the knee without the surgery. The moral of the story is to get a proper diagnosis BEFORE you go anywhere else, otherwise you risk wasting money and time.

Thank you all for your posts. Much food for thought. I think that my back is on the mend. If it doesn't get better, I will go to a GP to try and get a proper diagnosis.

Personally I'd use a sports massage therapist to deal with general soreness/maintenance but an osteopath where I have an actual injury that needs diagnosis and treatment.

Treatment might mean going to the massage therapist, but IME their ability to get the right diagnosis is limited and if you go there first, it's a bit hit and miss as to whether the right thing is treated.

FWIW I think GPs and NHS physios are a complete waste of time for anything sports related, they won't easily refer for MRI etc even when osteopath is saying its needed, but agree you do need a proper diagnosis before treatment.

Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. I find sports massage more consistent, in that they are always going to be reasonably firm and reach deep tissue, whereas you never really know if a physio is going to be a mainly talking treatment based one or not.

I usually have a muscular type of injury so I don't really want to pay to hear generic advice I can read about for free on the internet from a physio, I want to have some physical treatment that can sort the injury out! As for those physios who think they can treat using telephone appointments - no thanks!

My experience of NHS physios has been utterly diabolical. They have failed to diagnose a dislocated elbow and a fractured kneecap seperately and their "advice" has been so generic as to leave me wondering whether they'd got me confused with another person (one certainly got my right and left sides repeatedly mixed up). Apologies to any NHS physios who are good at their jobs!

My physio did more for getting me diagnosed than the doctors I saw did, she called them up and ordered new MRIs (told to doctor to order the MRI, that is) for my knee, and on another occasion properly diagnosed an issue that the doctor did not diagnose right. And got me into a group physio group that did wonders for my back, a kind of guided exercise group. Even showed me a better way to push the pram so that I didn't cause more injury to myself.

I can't see how a sports massage therapist will help with my post op recovery but then again when things are really sore and I'm literally stuck, or have chronic intractable migrainey, a really good, deep sports massage (painful) works wonders.

You're not comparing like for like