Sports Massage

I would definitely ask around for recommendations.

If you gave your approximate location, I am sure STWers would make some positive suggestions.

eg in west Manchester I can highly recommend Duncan Mason and his team at Athlete Matters, Worsley. They are very good and you'll know about it!

West of Ireland at the moment so more interested in recognising the right buzz words and therapies.

Recommendations are what you need as I've had both very good and very average.

If you have any local amateur sports clubs (cycling, running, anything really) then post on their Facebook page and ask for recommendations from them.

Doesn't really answer your question but given it's something you benefit from doing quite regular a combination of foam roller and massage gun can work wonders.

so more interested in recognising the right buzz words and therapies

In my view the difference between a good and an average physio is the diagnosis of the what the underlying issues are.

Local sports clubs will be the place to ask. Admittedly our club has a member who is a sports massage therapist, so self selecting

Found one, thanks - going Wednesday. Suppose i'd better have a shower.

Speaking as an ex sports massage therapist - yes - please do have a shower. Also wear some pants with the original number of holes in them. And please don't eat a very spicy meal with copious beer the day before.

Enjoy!

recognising the right buzz words

Apparently Happy Finish is a key word so your masseuse knows what your expectations are.... apparently.....

That's one of the advantages of a sports massage, among other things it tells you "definitely not a brothel, almost certainly not a holistic healing experience with scented oils" You are looking for an actual treatment after all, stuff that works.

Get recommendations for sure... Also, if possible, one that's connected to a larger org like a gym or other sports centre can be a good start. My guys were based in a university sports centre, so they were exclusively sports and sports injuries and also handled a bunch of overspill from the professional orgs that were there, you'd go in and find a Scotland rugby player or a professional footballer in the waiting room. The other place I've occasionally used is fine but their market is very different and that changes the focus and what they're most specialised in.

Also, it's important to know what you want. Not in terms of exactly what treatment but what sort of treatment. It's completely OK to say "I am not looking for a physio plan, I just want to leave here feeling better", and it'll change the use of time a lot. Otherwise a first session will be largely diagnosis/planning. Equally, you can mix it up between extremes, it sounds like you could maybe benefit from a little advice on how to keep in better condition between visits?