Neck/Thoraccic Myofascial Release Using a Tennis Ball

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 6/08/2008 9:35pm

Ok you meatheads, pay attention. I've meant to do this for quite sometime, but I haven't had the time to do it with the exquisiteness, candor and "cool ****" factor I wanted it. But goddamit man, stupid new age hippie crap like this tells me to not to wait any longer.

So **** it, misspellizng and errors aside, here it is.

Some of the most troublesome areas for self-care of nerve impigment, muscle strains and crap like that is in the neck (cervical) and thoraccic (lumbar) areas.

When you are severely messed up you need to use a chiropractor or PT and (usually simultaneously) a massage therapist, someone specialized in myofascial (active) release. And you have to use their services for a period of time for it to make any effect.

However, time and money are precious and knowledge is powah! So pay attention. Thanks to my chiro and massage therapist, I've come with various methods of self-applied myofascial release on those areas. These are tried-and-true methods that work. I didn't pull them out of my ass and they came straight from my chiro and massage therapists.

Be smart on how to use them. It's supposed to hurt, but not to cripple you, and they are not meant to be used in place of a health/massage professional. Use them as both an emergency as well as a "maintenance" method.

I'm not going to put too much detail into this. I'll trust you guys will get a general idea. You simply apply pressure and/or massage with pressure to the affected affected area with a tennis ball. Man up and hold the pressure. Don't kill yourself, though.

Use this on a regular basis and thank me later.

Use the following diagram for an idea of what muscles are being threaded.

Image courtesy of http://www.sports-injury-info.com/im...er-muscles.jpg

So here we go.

This is how you treat your (upper) trapezoid muscles.

This is how you treat your rhomboids (down the trapezoids and between the shoulder blades) as well as your infraspinatus. You must squat down to apply pressure. You won't get enough pressure on the ball if your legs are straight.

This is how you treat your side deltoids (you can do the same with the anterior and posterior deltoids). Put your bodyweight behind it.

This is how you treat the clavicular head of your pectoralis (the upper part of your chest):

Now, this is the tricky part, the side of your neck, the sternocleidomastoid muscle (the one that usually pulls to one side screwing things up.)

For this to work, you need to use the corner of a wall. Furthermore, you need to really drive your bodyweight. This is one of the strongest muscles. Don't kill it but work on it.

For similar advice, check the videos at this URL: http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=285

Or check this page I wrote on my blog about this subject a while ago : http://elnyka.wordpress.com/2008/01/...l-release-101/

I'll write more details later, I gotta eat.

**Kentucky Fried Chokin** · Posted On: 6/08/2008 9:52pm

I though this thread was about how to pleasure myself with w tennis ball. :(

Still, it's a good thread. Thanks TeM!

**hungryjoe** · Posted On: 6/08/2008 9:53pm

You'll need to put a handle on the ball Raz.

**Lily** · Posted On: 6/09/2008 2:32am

Thank you so much TeM!

My neck has been killing me for a long time but never got around to doing anything about it.

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 6/09/2008 7:48pm

Originally Posted by Lily

Thank you so much TeM!

My neck has been killing me for a long time but never got around to doing anything about it.

Hey, glad to help. Stay tuned as I'm getting more pictures using other stuff for stretching and mobility such as ropes and stuff :)

**Deadmeat** · Posted On: 6/09/2008 8:35pm

Awesome. Pushups for me it seems.

**Kentucky Fried Chokin** · Posted On: 6/09/2008 9:01pm

Originally Posted by Lily

Thank you so much TeM!

My neck has been killing me for a long time but never got around to doing anything about it.

You could take a vacation away from your boyfriend.

Ah, another thread tainted by my worthless posting.

*smiles with the satisfaction of a job well done*

**Lily** · Posted On: 6/18/2008 5:51am

You have a point Raz :P

Okay, I have a tennis ball in my work office, one in my bedroom and one in my lounge room. I am really angry with myself that I haven't done anything about my neck pains (other than brief home massage) for 4 years and just ONE session of doing as TeM says has already helped. More tonight including all the funny noises because it hurts!

Marry me TeM!

**ShiatsuMD** · Posted On: 12/31/2008 1:19pm

It's great information and it seems athletes of all types are slowly getting the message about myofascial pain syndrome. If you just google myofascial release (therapy, pain, syndrome, etc) or trigger point (therapy, pain, syndrome, etc), you'll find the science...and it is science, not new age voodoo.

After major open rotator cuff surgery, I began physical therapy with a prognosis of very limited range of motion. I needed deep tissue work and found it with tennis balls. I expanded on the idea, using multiple larger 3.5 - 4" balls in a cloth bag and provided the best deep tissue massage outside of paying a masseuse. It took some experimentation to find out what balls were best. Tennis balls are the right hardness or compressibilityand price. But used in larger quantities, they are too heavy, and because they are felted, there is too much friction. I have a product called the Shiatsubag, and it offers all the benefits of Tennis Ball therapy, but provides a lot more functionality and universal applications for Myofascial therapy.

**antman** · Posted On: 12/31/2008 2:34pm

I think u can also try the thera cane. I'd link it but I'm on my Palm. its a little more expensive but I love it. I however, am definitely going to try the tennis ball though that looks wonderfull. on a side note my buddy used to have his girl roll D batteries on his neck and bak areas it worked a little different but just as well