Ruth Mills Therapies was set up in 2010 with the aim of providing treatment to all ages, sizes and sporting abilities, whether you are a keen athlete or suffering from aches and pains related to work or postural issues. Ruth offers diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of injuries with the ultimate aim of returning you to full fitness. She bases her success on recommendations and believes that word of mouth is the best form of advertising.
We welcome one and all
16 years as professional sports therapist graduating from the University of Chichester in 2006
Sports and Remedial Massage Therapy can help with muscle aches and pains linked with daily living.
16 years as professional sports therapist
Ruth has over 16 years Sports Therapy experience and now works from her clinic at Thatcham Football Club. After graduating from the University of Chichester in 2006, with a degree in Sports Therapy, Ruth worked from several clinics in and around Tadley and built up her experience working with local rugby and football teams and also providing deep tissue massage for the London Irish rugby club.
Ruth's journey to becoming a Sports Therapist began at school where she found her love for sports; being involved in the netball, cross-country, rounders, and athletes team. Ruth's fascination with the human body and how it works, coupled with this love for sport was fundamental in choosing a career in Sports Therapy. As the saying goes....choose a job you enjoy and you will never have to work a day in your life!
Ruth is a Member of the Society of Sport Therapists which involves completing continued professional development (CPD) hours annually keeping her techniques and learning up to date. Ruth currently works, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from Thatcham Football Club, including a couple of evenings.
A three-dimensional picture of what lies beneath the skin is painted in the brains of skilled sports therapists. To be able to think on your feet and understand how bones, nerves, cartilage, muscles, arteries, and ligaments glide, slide, contract, and relax takes years of training and study.
During your first session an initial consultation will take place. A series of questions will help identify what is causing your injury/ pain, this includes medical history, any previous injuries and a description of the present complaint. A practical assessment will then test any relevant ligaments, tendons, muscles and joints of the body so an appropriate treatment plan can be formulated. You will receive the relevant treatment and finally be given some rehabilitation exercises/ stretches to continue at home.
Yes, anyone suffering with muscle or joint pain can benefit from treatment whether it be an injury sustained from working out in the gym or digging up weeds in the garden. I treat people of all ages, sizes and sporting abilities so don’t feel that if you aren’t involved in sport you can’t see a Sports Therapist. I also see a lot of people who suffer with neck, back and shoulder pain from being stuck at a desk all day!
Specialise in Sprains, Tendon Injuries, Neck & Back Pain, Muscle Tightness, Headaches, Joint Pain & Stiffness and all types of Sporting Injuries
Deep tissue massage is a deeper form of massage targeting areas of tension in the muscles. It involves using sustained pressure with slow, deep strokes to target the inner layers of your muscles and connective tissues. This helps to break down scar tissue that forms following an injury.
Deep tissue massage is used for chronic aches and pain, even if you are not involved in any sporting activity, a deep tissue massage can benefit you. Tension can build up in the muscles, whether it is from the stresses and strains of everyday life, digging up weeds in the garden or poor posture adopted in the working environment.
Therapeutic ultrasound works by emitting mechanical vibrations through the soft tissues, and evidence has shown that these waves can interact with certain cells in the body, influencing their activity and leading to the acceleration of repair. Therapeutic ultrasound is not to be confused with diagnostic ultrasound, which is an ultrasound that is used to see the inside of the body, such as checking on a fetus during pregnancy.
Gel is used between the ultrasound head and the skin to reduce friction and help the ultrasound waves enter the body. A treatment normally lasts between 3 – 5 minutes depending on the size of the area being treated. Various settings can be changed on the ultrasound machine to determine how deep the ultrasound waves will penetrate and also the intensity of the waves. Different settings are used in the various stages of healing.
Therapeutic ultrasound provides a useful addition to other treatments and is rarely used in isolation. If you have any metal implants below the area being treated then ultrasound is not possible.
If a joint becomes locked or restricted in any particular direction then you may experience pain and/or stiffness. Joint mobilisation techniques focus on attaining a normal range of pain-free joint motion. Joint mobilisations usually involve applying force that would mimic the glide that happens in between the bones. The passive movement applied is usually done at a slow speed, with or without oscillations or a stretch. This technique is usually graded from 1 to 5, and is varied based on two factors: pain tolerance of the patient and the severity of the patient’s condition.
Any joint that is lacking sufficient motion may be mobilised. This includes the spine; mobilisations on the vertebrae of the neck, middle and lower back and sacroiliac joint, as well as to all of the joint of the extremities such as the shoulder, wrist, hip, knee, foot and ankle.
As part of your treatment at Ruth Mills Therapies you may be given some exercises to undertake at home which will promote recovery and reduce the risk or re-injury. Following a soft tissue injury, for example, you may be given exercises to help strengthen and stretch the injured area and surrounding muscles. This is important to fully rehabilitate the injured area and therefore reduce the chance of re-injury.
Exercise programs may include stretches, balance and proprioception training, postural re-education, muscles balancing exercises, sport specific training, resistance training and core stability exercises.
Kinesiology tape is a thin, stretchy, elastic cotton strip with an acrylic adhesive, designed to enhance the body’s natural healing process whilst offering muscle and joint support and stability. It works by microscopically lifting the skin away from the affected area below to help alleviate pain, improve blood circulation and facilitate lymphatic drainage. At Ruth Mills Therapies we use Tiger Tape which can be used to treat a range of sports and non-sports injuries.
This kind of treatment is designed to help reduce the risk of injury or re-injury by identifying areas of tightness, weakness or imbalance throughout the body. Not all injuries can be prevented but by targeting and improving areas of malfunction, some injuries can be avoided.
After a full assessment, treatments may involve a combination of stretching exercises, a range of massage techniques, balance exercises, strengthening exercises and other treatments appropriate to the assessment findings.
Advice is key, you will be given advice on the best way to return to sport following an injury, postural advice to help prevent further aggravation from poor posture and advice on warming up/cooling down post training.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or concerns
Ruth has over 16 years Sports Therapy experience and now works from her clinic at Thatcham Football Club.
