I am just going to say it... Most people are using foam rollers, therapy balls and other self-care tools incorrectly. As a result, they are doing the work and expecting results but only finding temporary relief.
I don’t like to be a Debbie Downer or to poo-poo other’s teachings, but it is really heartbreaking for me when a client walks through my treatment room door with ongoing pain and reduced range of motion that hasn’t improved — no matter how hard they have tried.
Typically this client has usually watched all the YouTube videos out there — on subjects like how to use a foam rollers or how to use a lacrosse ball to relieve pain — and they may have also received help from a well-trained physical therapist or a personal trainer.
And yet, they still have pain. It’s not the client’s fault and it’s generally not the health professional’s fault. The problem is that most of the information available on how to effectively relieve pain and tightness is OUTDATED. The prescribed methods don’t deal with the underlying problems that are causing the pain, don’t fully release the tightness, and don’t allow the tissues to unwind.
If you have to continue using a foam roller every day to help relieve pain in part of your body, and the pain keeps coming back, then you are not getting to the root cause of the issue. Your methods are a healthier alternative to living with pain or taking an over-the-counter medication, but if you’re going to put the work in, don’t you want it to be effective?
Meet Mary
One of my recent program clients (we’ll call her Mary, for privacy) came to see me because she had been suffering with shoulder pain. She wasn’t able to put her jacket on without experiencing some pain. She wasn’t able to workout the way she wanted to, and so she was becoming less and less active. Mary was athletic most of her life and had knowledge on how to care for her body and keep herself physically fit. She had used a foam roller and a therapy ball to address the pain in her shoulder but unfortunately these methods weren’t working. It’s actually not the foam roller’s fault that it wasn’t helping. It’s that Mary didn’t know how to USE the foam roller in a way that addressed the underlying, connective tissues were causing her pain to flare up.
Throughout the course of her program with me, I taught Mary how to effectively use the foam roller. During our treatment time together we were able to identify tight, restricted areas that she was able to work on in between our sessions together. She already knew how to use the foam roller, but with the simple adjustments we made and the education she received in my program — about how to identify the connected areas that were also contributing to her pain — she made great progress on her path to pain-free living in a short period of time.
In just 6 weeks, Mary had increased her range of motion, she was able to put her jacket on without pain, she felt stronger in her strength-training routine and she felt calmer, overall — even through a stressful period of her life.
A Better Way
We can all find a better, gentler, more effective way for treating and relieving pain. It is possible. I can help!
Commentaires