At first I really liked foam rollers. They give people who are not getting massage an opportunity to roll out some knots on their own. Rollers are a great shortstop for troubles in major muscles such as quads and hamstrings.
They still are, up to a point. Now they have been around for a few years, I am running into more people who use rollers on the spine, and that trend has me worried.
As a massage therapist, I am always careful around the spinous processes in terms of pressure and direction. Never directly down into the bone and never against the tips of the processes. I tend to work with, around, into the laminal groove and gently circle throughout the tendon areas of muscular attachments on the processes. I have always felt that the processes are not fragile, but they are sensitive areas worthy of respect and gentle coaxing.
And hey-heck-howdy, I keep getting people in who have been rolling the thud-whumpers out of their processes.
Foam rollers are harder than most anything I would ever roll my spine on, and their mid-surface does not have a break for the processes. I am concerned that at some point people will either crunch their “fins” or cause a lot of soft-tissue micro-trauma that gives me a lot to work on later.
For most of my professional life, the standard tool for spinal self-massage has been something that gives the processes a break. I am speaking of the two “dead” tennis balls in a sock, with the emphasis on dead. That gizmo is easy to make, easy to replace, and gentle on the hardware while being tough on the paraspinals.
My sock buddy has gotten me out of many messes in the paraspinals, rhomboids, lats, rotators and other major movers of massage therapists. And I have gotten clients to use it for the relief of knots, pains, spasms, you name it.
But I always give the caution not to go gung-ho right on the center of the spine.I would like to hear how other therapist folks feel about foam rollers. Are they a bad idea? Create more problems than they resolve? Or is it just OK-dokey to run them over the spine?
A tennis ball can be one of the best self massage tools someone can use. I show people how to use a tennis ball to massage themselves all the time. Two tennis balls and a sock are even better. I think it’s best to keep it simple when it comes to self massage.
Great tip about the dual tennis balls. Foam rollers are everywhere now, and I do think they are a great tool for taming tension in the quads, glutes, and lateral legs. I both give massage and teach yoga and luckily I have only seen people using the foam on these areas.
I could see using these as a prop in reclined poses and/or exercises. But I wholeheartedly agree, don’t roll directly on the spin(ous processes)e. I may start giving warnings when I sell these now.
Thanks!
From Sue Peterson: Excellent! Anytime we can keep people from crunching things is a good time….also, I caution people about going too deep on the ITB area…I find a lot of inflammation underneath the ITB which could be aggravated by rolling….
I used to have one of these, but then it suddenly dissipated. I found it a few weeks later under my sons bed. At least I got an excuse to go see a massage therapist because I could not find my roller. I like my roller a lot and it really helps me relax.
From Sue Peterson — Agreed that foam rollers are great when used wisely — lucky for us therapists our hands can not be replaced….