What is a Sports Flush, Sports Flushing Massage?

Can Sports Flush Massage Really Flush Out Lactic Acid?

It was long believed that lactic acid build-up was the main reason your muscles got sore and tired shortly after a heavy workout (delayed onset muscle soreness- DOMS).  It was also thought that sports massage was the magic bullet for flushing out that lactic acid.

As it turns out, lactic acid (or blood lactate) is a natural by-product of any muscular activity, such as running or cycling.  It provides an energy source for working muscles and helps in the process of wound repair and regeneration.

By the time the athlete is lying on the massage table, the lactic acid has already left the muscles.  So how does one explain all that post-exercise muscle soreness?  According to Sports Medicine specialist, Dr. Gabe Mirkin, “next-day muscle soreness is caused by damage to the muscle fibers themselves.”  He suggests that one should stop exercising before their muscles start to hurt. That burning sensation is the nervous system’s way of alerting you that your muscles are running out of energy, and if you push them any more, you will inevitably experience DOMS.

However, if you do experience muscle fatigue and soreness, there’s good news! Current research supports that massage can be effective in reducing DOMS.

Sports Massage Doesn’t Flush Toxins, but May Help You Recover

Should you spring for a stint in the post-marathon massage tent? Get a regular rubdown to help your recovery as you train? Research shows that sports massage doesn’t always do what you think it does—but it may still help you recover from a tough workout.

Most importantly: Sports massage doesn’t flush lactic acid, or other “toxins,” from your muscles. Lactic acid is produced during exercise, and you might associate it with a burning feeling during hard work, but it’s not a problem, isn’t responsible for next-day soreness, and doesn’t need help to be removed from the muscles.

Go to this link for:

10 Stubborn Exercise Myths that Won’t Die, Debunked by Science

Massage does help to relax muscles, though, which can help to relieve tight muscles. The same action can break up adhesions, a type of scar tissue that sometimes forms in muscle.

Where massage shines, though, is in promoting recovery. Studies testing massage as a recovery technique are inconsistent. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t, and the differences may come from the different types and timing of massage that the studies use. Still, recent studies have shown that massage, in humans and in rabbits, improves the ability of muscles to repair themselves after a workout. If you can’t afford regular sports massage from a professional, a good strategy may be self-massage with tennis balls and foam rollers.

Flushing Out Myths

Great article from Massage Today
December 2002, Vol. 02, Issue 12

By Keith Eric Grant, Ph.D., NCTMB

“The tragedy of science is a beautiful hypothesis slain by an ugly fact.”

-Thomas Huxley

There’s a statement, seemingly pervasive throughout massage education and massage books, that unspecified toxins accumulate in the body, and that these toxins can be flushed out by massage.

I believe this is yet another myth that continues to be passed on as misinformation to massage students. This is not to dispute that there are very real toxins that accumulate in the body, notably persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in fatty tissues and heavy metals in skeletal tissues. [7,8] However, these toxins are too chemically bound to their target tissues to be significantly liberated by the mechanical motions of massage.

A more significant issue is whether metabolic wastes and cellular debris can significantly accumulate and be flushed out by massage. To elucidate a negative response to this, I turn to a consideration of the circulation of blood and lymph. If the tissue is to accumulate wastes in a static manner, i.e. not as an instantaneous balance between production and removal, the tissue must be isolated. If we assume that the tissue is isolated from blood circulation, then necrosis (cellular death) is the rapid consequence. Such gangrene is, for example, one of the results of the vascular pathology of diabetes. We have to conclude that non-gangrenous tissue must be receiving oxygen and nutrients via circulation and that, for this to continue, venous return flow must also be occurring. If the toxins are accumulating, they cannot be doing so within the reach of the circulatory system. Perhaps we should look instead in the interstitial spaces served by the lymphatic system.

As noted by Bruno Chikly, the lymphatic system is a second pathway back to the heart, parallel to the blood system [2, pg. 27]. Chikly further notes that “about 1.5 to 3.5 liters of lymph per day circulate through the thoracic duct, although the total volume of the flow of lymph has yet to be precisely measured” [2, pg. 51] and expands on the process of lymphatic circulation.

“Part of the constituents of the blood will filter out of the blood capillaries. This blood capillary filtrate will join the surrounding tissues, passing through the interstitial environment (interstitium) – the interstices between each cell, to be further reabsorbed in the lymphatic capillaries. The lymphatic system fine tunes the drainage of the interstitium (connective tissue) and thus constitutes a sort of “overflow” for the water and excess substances in the interstitial environment. In fact, if the lymphatic system did not recover the protein-rich liquid (a large part of which the venous system cannot recover), the body would probably develop major systemic edemas (protein loss), auto-intoxication and die in 24 to 48 hours [2, pg. 27]… About 75 to 100 g. proteins per day can escape from the blood circulation; this is about 50% of the protein circulating in the blood plasma per day. These proteins are transported in the lymphatic vessels. Proteins which have escaped into the interstitium are recovered by the lymph circulation [2, pg. 29].”

What arises is a picture of tissue far from being in static isolation. If neither necrosis nor severe edema is to result, the tissue environment must be continually bathed in the fluid circulations of blood and lymph, ruling out the accumulation of free toxins. Where there are restrictions, such as adhesions between fascial planes, they must be of a more macroscopic nature, still allowing for the microscopic flow of circulation, just as water can flow through cheesecloth.

Based on the above considerations, I can only conclude that the flushing of toxins is yet another persistent myth. However, this does not imply that the massage is powerless to benefit the body. While massage does not appear to directly increase overall blood flow [4], it can be used to relax muscle hypertonicity. Lowering the level of muscle activity will locally reduce the need for energy and oxygen and the rate of production of metabolic wastes. It will also reduce the muscular pressure on surrounding tissues, effectively improving circulation and recovery from use. This, however, is not massage moving out toxins, but massage facilitating better homeostasis. It is just this improvement in homeostasis by which, I believe, massage facilitates recovery from exercise and allows a higher level of training to occur.

In cases of excess lymphatic fluid production (overloading a normally functioning lymphatic system), or partial lymphatic system compromise, lymphatic drainage massage may be helpful in promoting the process of lymphatic filtering. The key sign here is the existence of edema. Normally, local muscle contractions promote sufficient lymph drainage. A notable exception exists with breast tissue. Since there is no contractile tissue within the breast to assist lymphatic drainage, overall tissue movement becomes important [3, pg. 101].

There remains a consideration that some clients respond to a massage with reactions of flu-like aches and malaise. Such symptoms have often been attributed to the toxins released. Dispelling the concept of toxins means that we must seek other explanations for such post-massage malaise. Chaitow notes that fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are the distant ends of spectrums of dysfunction that can include aches, malaise, and flu-like symptoms [1, pg. 6]. He believes that a great many people are somewhere on those spectrums. Some of the models of dysfunction that Chaitow presents include a sort of systemic allergic reaction characterized by a great deal of pain, either muscular and/or joint-related [1, pg. 33]. Chaitow also notes the hypothesis that the inability to produce an adequate cortisol response to stress can result in symptoms: “Deficiency in cortisol is characterized by fatigue, weakness, muscle and joint pain, bowel symptoms, nausea, increased allergic reactions, mood disturbance” [1, pg. 68]. I tend to think of a body’s neurochemical system on the edge of its ability to adapt being pushed temporarily beyond the edge by accommodating to the work being done. This reaction may be exacerbated by the effects of athletic overtraining or by a genetic metabolic predisposition [5,6].

“When people are very ill, as in FMS/CFS, where adaptive functions have been stretched to their limits, ANY treatment (however gentle) represents and additional demand for adaptation (i.e. it is yet another stressor). It is therefore essential that treatments and therapeutic interventions are carefully selected and modulated to the patient’s current ability to respond, as best as this can be judged. – Leon Chaitow [1, pg. 240]”

To explain the effects of massage, think not of flushing out toxins, but flushing out tensions – not just in the sense of emotional holding, but in the basic sense of muscles “idling” with the throttle open. As with good mechanics, we’re simply readjusting the throttle to a reasonable idle rate. Underlying this way of looking at things, however, is a fundamental shift in orientation from mechanically moving something that accumulates to changing a dynamic balance within the living human body. It is, I believe, an important shift away from mythology and toward a better understanding of our work.

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Therapeutic Healing Bodywork by NiCoLa!Santa Barbara Massage. Nicola is a California State Licensed and Insured LMT (Certified Massage Practitioner) Professional BODY WORKER, by APPOINTMENT ONLY, Last Minute Appointments are OK.Warning-Massage can become Addicting!Warning- Good Bodywork can become Addicting!
If you appreciate high quality bodywork or just want to RELAX and go to “LA LA LAND” call Nicola.  Are you a serious athlete and need EXTREME bodywork or “FIX IT” work, weekend warrior with injuries or just want to keep that body tuned up? Then you have finally found your Santa Barbara Licensed and Insured Massage Therapist.
Nicola Chris-topher (aka – Nick, Chris or Banduechy…so named by his handball buddies) is a California State Licensed and Insured LMT (Certified Massage Practitioner) Professional BODY WORKER, by APPOINTMENT ONLY, Last Minute Appointments are OK.Get into the ZONE…the PARASYMPATHETIC Zone
Click this link for a diagram  that explains the parasympathetic nervous systemBefore you continue PLEASE watch this video called ” The Wounded Healer”….
.. fantastic.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDLUR15Z9o8 Thanks to Michael SingerMy style of Deep Tissue Massage releases the body’s natural painkillers whereby it stimulates the release of endorphins, the morphine-like substances that the body manufactures into the brain and nervous system. Once that happens (your now in a parasympathetic state (This link is fabulous information for Dr. Randy H. the dentist) “rest and digest”) I then go to work on your sore or injured area to break up the damaged fibrous adhesion’s which are spread randomly though out a muscle’s tissue thus increasing blood flow, oxygen, strength, flexibility and tissue re-building. I use a variety of modalities to accomplish this:Swedish: This is your basic massage modality which incorporates long gentle strokes to increase blood flow to and from the muscles.Myofascial Release: This technique involves slower and deeper pressure into the muscle tissue to assist in breaking up adhesions and scar tissue in the muscle.Neuromuscular Release, NMT, Neuromuscular Re-Education, Body Pattern Synchronization (Call it what you want… everybody gives it their own name but we are all trying to do the same thing): This technique is “point-specific” work which targets muscle adhesions, muscle spindles in the belly of the muscle, trigger points that restrict normal flow of the nervous system to the muscles. Once the adhesions are broken up the client usually experiences an increase in range of motion, strength, and speed.Active Range of Motion: This technique is a stretching modality which takes the client through his or her normal range of motion to assist motor control and aids in the reduction of scar tissue and muscle adhesions.Active Isolated Stretching: This technique involves stretching which incorporates a process called reciprocal inhibition to stretch the muscle as well as increase kinesthetic awareness of the body.
The key to “My STYLE” is an aggressive approach combined with sustained pressure ( increasing Ischemic blood supply) over time.(This diagram link explains this process)The beautiful flower arrangement below was done by Ti de L’ ArbreRiktr massage can be Cat like, feel like soft beautiful flowers or pure CONTROLLED muscle power – Nicola can execute all three – I guarantee I will be in the moment with you and give you 110 percent of my healing attention.Amazing “On the EDGE” Therapeutic DEEP TISSUE Healing Massages
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