SPORTS MASSAGE OILS

BY AMY WOOLSTENHOLMES, SPORTS MASSAGE PRACTITIONER

DIFFERENT KINDS OF MEDIUM A massage medium is a substance that lubricates a person’s skin so that massage techniques can be applied, particularly for techniques that require a gliding movement. Many different mediums can be used to do this, including oils, creams, talcum powder and gels. Each can be used in different circumstances and have several uses.

Vegetable oils Oils come in various guises, although the two main types are mineral oils and vegetable oils. Both can be used to treat a client, but they have differing qualities. Vegetable oil should be used in its purest form to ensure the risk of a reaction is reduced (to both the client and the practitioner). In this context, “pure” means that it should have nothing added – no colour or fragrance. Pure vegetable oil penetrates the skin well and allergic reactions are rare. When a practitioner uses essential oils, which are derived from plants, trees, roots and seeds, the vegetable oil provides a good base medium because it bonds well with the essential oil. There are many different types of vegetable oil, such as grape seed oil, olive oil and sunflower oil, all of varying qualities based on their smell, allergenic property, cost, and penetration quality. Table 1 summarises the properties and uses of a range of different types of oil.

Mineral oils Mineral oils, such as baby oil, have some disadvantages compared to vegetable oils. They are not good at penetrating the skin and therefore sit on its surface, leaving it slippery after treatment! Because they are not absorbed by the skin, the practitioner can only treat to a certain depth. Furthermore, there tend to be more allergic reactions with mineral oils.

Creams Creams can be useful for treatment although they tend to be absorbed quickly by the skin and therefore require repeated applications throughout the treatment. This can take up a lot of time during treatment and can cost the practitioner a small fortune, especially if working on people with plenty of body hair! There are also a large number of creams on the market, many claiming some sort of additional quality, such as the ability to warm the skin or a particular smell. Practitioners should take care when choosing any cream, to make sure it does not contain traces of allergic substances.

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USING OILS AND OTHER MEDIUMS IN SPORTS MASSAGE

Since completing the sports massage therapy diploma in 2003 I have managed to collect a large number of bottles. They contain various different mediums that I have tried during treatments. This now sizeable collection has been created due to a number of factors including a general lack of organisation, having to nip out to the local chemists to buy a bottle of something I already have or just to treat someone on one occasion, and acquiring some randomly along the way from sundry practices and events. When looking at the rows of bottles it is clear that some are still fuller than others. There are a few reasons for this.

THE RISK OF A REACTION IS REDUCED

VEGETABLE OIL SHOULD BE USED IN ITS PUREST FORM TO ENSURE

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