As part of an athlete’s care team, massage therapists can play an important role on the road to recovery.

The National Safety Council (NSC) reports that in 2019, personal exercise, with or without exercise equipment, held the top spot for sports- and recreation-related injuries that resulted in an emergency room visit. That represents roughly 468,000 injuries. Bicycling took second place with about 417,000 injuries. Then came basketball and football, with 404,000 and 292,000 injuries respectively.

Numbers this strong suggest there are a lot of American athletes, from elite to amateur, following up an emergency room visit with a rehab program or even surgery that’s initiated and provided by a medical team.

Today, more than ever, a sports massage therapist is a valued member of that treatment team.

While massage therapists must never diagnose, they certainly can use their knowledge and experience to identify techniques that support an athlete’s recovery from a properly diagnosed injury or surgery

Emerging Evidence

Studies specific to massage and the management of sports-related injuries or surgeries are sparse. That said, evidence appears to suggest that massage can be effective for patients in general who are rehabilitating from injury or recuperating from surgery.