The Official College of Physiotherapists of the Canary Islands (COFC) has denounced that "the organization of Ironman Lanzarote 2019, once again, will promote professional intrusion, by not having an authorized physiotherapy service for the post-competition recovery of the participants".
The Ironman, which will celebrate its twenty-eighth edition on May 25, will have the participation of 1,650 athletes who, according to the Official College of Physiotherapists of the Canary Islands, "will be attended by 'chiromassage therapists' in the recovery service offered by the event at its end".
From the COFC they affirm that they have transferred "repeatedly" both "to the Island Sports Service of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, as the main sponsor of the Ironman", and "to Club La Santa, as organizer, the importance of having adequate professionals for the care of its participants". "And this is both for the security provided by having a properly prepared and qualified health team, and for the prestige of the event itself, since any competition of international projection must offer its participants professional services in accordance with their demand and level", they point out.
In its place, however, they affirm that "the Ironman will offer a recovery service for athletes formed by a team integrated by chiromassage therapists, even knowing the warnings of the COFC, launched through official statements sent by various means", emphasizing that "it is better to do without inadequate services, if qualified personnel cannot be counted on".
"Scientific evidence shows that after a race of so many kilometers the musculature suffers and is micro-injured, so the massage provided must always be therapeutic and never for relaxation purposes", they point out from the COFC, from where they indicate that "chiromassage is not a health profession, and therefore the massage academy in charge of the post-competition assistance that will provide the service after this very hard test to which world-renowned athletes will attend, cannot perform any therapeutic treatment". "The techniques and wellness massages are not the convenient or recommended procedures after a test of extreme hardness, they add.
Written to Public Health "for the potential risk"
According to the president of the College of Physiotherapists, Santiago Sánchez, the institution he represents sent a letter on March 25 addressed to both the Cabildo and Club la Santa, "so that they could have two months to clarify any doubts that may arise, and even to collaborate if necessary by mediating with physiotherapy companies and the Canary universities", a communication that indicates that "has been ignored by both".
So much so, that from the College they affirm that they have subsequently sent "both letters to Public Health, due to the potential risk to health that it may pose for the participants, as well as to the Canary Triathlon Federation, as well as to the clubs integrated in said federation".
"In the College we wonder if the runners, who in this case are both professionals and amateurs, are duly informed when making the registration of the type of care they will receive in the Ironman. After a test of great hardness like this, the appearance of injuries even imperceptible to the naked eye is the usual, and they should demand to receive an adequate muscular treatment by the organization, which should never save costs in this regard", points out the president of the College of Physiotherapists.
