If you already have a spiky massage ball, you probably know how amazing they are. They have got me out of a tight spot or two (pun intended) with various aches and pains I have experienced. You are probably already using it at home or at the gym but here are some ways to get more use out of your spiky ball. If you don’t have one, maybe you will be calling us to come pick one up after reading this!
1. Long car trips and flights
This is one of my favourite uses, please don’t use it if you are the driver though! Spiky massage balls are great for long car trips or flights. You can pop it under your bottom and wiggle around to get into the piriformis muscle; you can put it between you and the chair and get into the muscles either side of the spine, or down lower for the glute muscles; you can use it on your feet, shoulders and neck! Put i
t on the sore muscle and gently wiggle your body so the spiky ball moves in a rotational fashion. 60 seconds is all you need on each spot. One of my patients used to experience crippling back pain on long car trips that would ruin his holiday. Now he uses a spiky ball under the bottom (piriformis muscle) every hour or so which has completely relieved the trigger event, no more back pain!
2. At the office
Every one needs little breaks at the office. Toilet, coffee, printer room and so on. This is a perfect time to grab your spiky massage ball to loosen up tight postural muscles or just to get some blood flowing. Find a bit of wall and pop t
he
ball between you and the wall on the muscle you want to target. Move your body so the ball goes in circles over the sore spot for about 60 seconds. Each break choose a different spot. Depending on the size of your office you could even have a designated spiky ball area and leave a ball for everyone to use! Try getting around the shoulder blades, the rotator cuff muscles, the pecs, the glutes and the side of the thighs. If you don’t have wall space at the office simply use the ball in the palm of your hand. Held in your hand you can roll it on your arms, thighs and pecs very effectively.
3. On holidays
You never know what the bed and couch are going to be like when you are away on holidays. All that rest and relaxation can quickly be overth
rown by tight muscles caused by dodgy furniture. The spiky ball can be used either before or after to help the muscles
adjust or you can use it in conjunction with a hot water bottle to help the body relax. Put the hot water bottle on the affected area for about 10 minutes and then use the spiky massage ball on the same area for about 60 seconds. You can then take the hot water bottle to bed with you on the affected area if you need. Nice for the winter months!
Extra Tip – There is always a chance that you might over do it with the spiky massage ball. If this happens you will feel tenderness under the ball when you go to do it the next time or you may feel bruised even without pressure. If this happens, skip the massage on the particular area until it calms down and use ice or heat to help relieve the bruised feeling. If this a regular theme you may be pressing to hard or working on a particular area for too long so back off and see if it helps. You don’t need to cause yourself pain for the spiky ball to work. In addition to make pressure less you can add a towel between you and the ball, to make it harder, angle yourself more towards the ball or use it on the floor to let gravity help even more!
Happy spiky balling everyone! If you need a ball, we have plenty of colours in stock. Purple, blue, green, red and yellow!