Articles featured in the January 2015 issue of sportEX dynamics journal – an international sports massage and manual therapy journal:
* PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS: HAVE WE LOST THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A REPUTABLE BRAND?
The following letter from one of our regular Australian contributors provides an interesting insight into some of the difficulties facing the Australian massage therapy industry. This introduction describes how the Australian healthcare and education systems have contributed to creating this situation and how we in the UK can perhaps avoid ending up
in a similar position.
* WHY MASSAGE RESEARCH IS FLAWED
Massage is used extensively in sport but a huge number of experimental studies reach the conclusion that it has little or no actual benefit. This is because virtually every study is methodologically flawed – not for the usually stated reasons of a lack of randomisation or blinding but because of a lack of consensus about what massage actually is, a lack of understanding about what is being tested and on whom, and above all a total disregard for the dose of application.
* AN UPDATE ON THE RESEARCH EVIDENCE BASE FOR KINESIO TAPE
This article discusses recent studies on the effectiveness of kinesio tape used to treat medial tibial stress syndrome, osteoarthritis of the knee, calf pain and low back pain in order to assess the evidence base for this therapy.
* YOGA AS THERAPY
Yoga is an ideal form of exercise for stretching tight muscles and improving flexibility, gaining strength and also providing psychological benefits. This article describes how yoga can be used in a rehabilitation setting.
* FASCIA AND BIOTENSEGRITY
This second article about the concept of biotensegrity, considers the fascia, or tensional network of the living body. Many traditional concepts of biomechanics and musculoskeletal anatomy are evolving rapidly. There are challenges in naming the fascia and relating this ubiquitous fabric of human form to structure and natural function in living movement. Some key questions arising are explored here, before more detailed discussion of biotensegrity is elaborated on in later articles. The question is, is biotensegrity the missing link?
* JOURNAL WATCH
Quarterly roundup of key research published in the last three months.
* SOCIAL WATCH
Quarterly roundup of key resources from some of the main social media sites.
These articles are available in full through a subscription to sportEX dynamics. The articles are all written by practitioners from around the world. The publication is available in print and online as well as on the Apple, Android and Kindle Fire platforms.
