As a Physical Therapist, I work on a lot of patients who complain of pain due to trigger points and tension. So therefore, the best form of treatment is myofascial release and deep tissue massage. A lot of times, I can get the muscles loosened up and the trigger points diminished after a session with them. However, often times the muscle tension may return a day later due to a number of reasons. So it is important to build upon physical therapy sessions with at-home treatments.
I give patients home exercises to work on. And sometimes, this includes teaching them how to use a foam roller or a tennis ball to massage themselves (especially after a long day at work or a gym workout). Â Foam rolling is excellent! (checkout our past foam rolling 101 past here). Â However, many patients do not have one at home. So a tennis ball is more affordable and accessible.
A tennis ball can be used on several different body parts for deep tissue release. Â So today I will demonstrate how to do so.
Once you get in the starting position, you want to massage in multidirectional. Â Up/down, Left/Right, and Circles. Or you can just hold pressure on one point for a minute.
I recommend you perform this for a couple minutes in the impaired area. Consider warming up the muscles first with a heating pad. I also recommend stretching the muscles after the deep tissue release.
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