There are many different types of sports injury which occur in the game of Rugby. The obvious being the trauma or impact injury, dislocation and lesion, however, postural & over training injuries are less obvious but often lead to long term damage which can be impossible to fix.
During my time at the club, I have seen another type of problem which is not spoken of and indeed the players seem to be unaware of. Rugby players like boxers train their mind & body to be always ready & to absorb impact - this puts them in a perpetual state of tension. Given that they also need to body build and strength train, their bodies are constantly in a tension and stress mode.
Stress
Much has been written about 'Stress' - good stress and bad stress - we are built to be 'stressed' but in only short bursts, this is ok but long term or constant stress on the mind & body can be very damaging and can also be the source & cause of so many other problems.
When the body is under constant physical stress the muscles, tendons, ligaments & joints do not get the quality down time to house keep & repair tissue. When blood flow, nutrients, oxygen etc are restricted to the head because of muscle tension in the neck, this restricts blood supply to the brain and leads to headaches or migraine. The constant release of stress hormones into the system is very damaging long term and thought to be the source of some diabetes, cancers and osteoarthritis.
Sports massage
During exercise the body releases stress hormones but it does not know whether this is good or bad stress, so it is very important to warm down and relax, sports massage is of great advantage to the rugby player not only to detect and treat an injury early, but also to allow stress and muscle tension to be released.
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