How useful is it to have regular Thai massages parallel to Muay Thai training and is yoga a substitute?

Question

Over the past few weeks I have had a pain in a muscle region to the right of my left shoulder blade. It had been building up gradually till in practice I could hardly throw a punch. My trainer recommended me to see a masseuse he sees once a week for a traditional Thai massage. It was not that cheap so that I would imagine doing it once a week. It was an intense massage with lots of deep tissue techniques, and I did feel alot better but still some pain/discomfort.

So the question is, did this pain arise from lack of appropriate stretching? Would regular yoga sessions at home avoided this? Could training with a soaking with sweat shirt been the primary reason? How often is massage essential for Muay Thai training?

Answer 1

Here's the thing about shoulder pain: it might be a muscle strain, it might be partial tendon tear, it might be a pinched nerve, it might be bursitis, it might be a lot of things.

Now, depending what the problem is, massage might help, rest might help, strengthening might help, stretching might help, ergonomics might help... hell, surgery might help. On the other hand, the wrong solution might make things worse.

So with that said, until you get a good bead on what's happening, no one can say whether massage would be a good solution for you or not. A sports medicine specialist, a physical therapist, or a very educated massage therapist, would be able to pinpoint the real problem and give you advice on the correct solution.

In a general sense, massage can be helpful for athletes, as much as strengthening, as much as some stretching (enough for the range of motion you plan on using, not more than that).

Answer 2

If you have pains, go and see a professional medical practitioner: your GP (Doctor) or a physiotherapist that specialises in sports injuries. They should be able to tell you what you did and how to fix it. You can ask them if alternative treatment is not dangerous but we all know that "alternative medicine" that's been proved to work is called medicine.

I would strongly suggest finding a different trainer.

As a side note, do not take medical advice from clueless strangers on the Internet: go and seek professional medical help!