How I became a remedial massage therapist in Eastbourne
A career in IT Management doesn’t really seem to be an obvious route to becoming a Sports Massage Therapist but sometimes a change is a great way of improving your life.
I loved working in IT. It constantly presented me with change and challenges, which kept me on my toes. But eventually I realised that it was taking a toll on me both in strange working hours and the stress of having sometimes hundreds of people waiting for me to fix a problem. Having left a job I loved in London, because the stress and time involved in commuting was unsustainable, I moved into IT locally in the NHS. The reduction in commuting time (4 hours per day had become 40 minutes) left me with some valuable free time, which I wanted to put to good use.
I started helping out at a local running club in an “admin” role.
Being around a running club soon led to pleas to help out in league meetings as they were short of women competitors. So I soon started throwing javelins, shot puts and hammers and then into some relay running. Having done little sport since leaving school this took a bit of a toll on the body! I was recommended to see a sports massage therapist who had recently graduated from the London School of Sports Massage (L.S.S.M). The first treatment really helped my sore shoulders and back and I booked in for regular “maintenance” treatments.
I got hooked!
When my running club took up triathlon (Swim/Bike/Run) around this time, I thought why not? (Not being able to swim anything other than slow breaststroke was perhaps one reason!) Soon, I had learned to swim front crawl and also to ride a racing bike and to run further and with continuing massage treatments entered my first race.
Some friends wanted to qualify to race in New Zealand in 2003 and I was persuaded to give it a go as well. I went to New Zealand as part of the GB Team and then onto many other races around the world in wonderful places such as Hawaii, Vancouver etc. as part of the wonderful GB Age Group family.
Having taken some UK Athletics and British Triathlon coaching qualifications
I was constantly being asked about ways of combating and fixing injuries and so looked into doing a sports massage course myself. I did a weekend taster course at the L.S.S.M and was instantly hooked by the benefits massage can bring. I enrolled on the Level 5 Diploma in Remedial and Sports Massage Therapy course (now Soft Tissue Therapist Dip). Having qualified I took the offer of redundancy during one of the many NHS reorganisations and went into Remedial and Sports Massage as my “day” job.
Six years on, over three of these practising remedial massage therapy at Lushington Chiropractic Clinic in Eastbourne,
I am still in awe of the help and changes I can bring about using various massage, stretching and related techniques both to sports people and to others whose jobs and day to day living causes them stress, pain and injury. Rehabilitation from injury is also part of the work and is very rewarding as it’s always a pleasure to see people return to an activity that they have had to give up.
Continuing Professional Development Courses (C.P.D) in areas such as myofascial release and medical acupuncture (dry needling), kinesio taping have added to my skills and so to my ability to help people. Remedial/ Sports Massage is a truly rewarding thing to do and I also meet a wide range of interesting people
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By Sue Hudson
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