A load of balls! How tennis balls can relieve your back pain.

How to relieve back pain fast  | Fun fact, did you know in an average tennis game you run 3 miles? Today I wanted to share with you something that I often tell my patients. Tennis balls can be a great help with back pain.

There’s two different ways of using them, but the simplest is to place two tennis balls in a sock and tie it off with a knot. You can then place this on the ground and lie down, face up with your knees bent and the tennis balls placed at about waist height behind your back, one each side of your spine. You may need to adjust your position until you feel balanced. Then raise both arms straight up towards the ceiling and slowly bring alternate arms to the floor above your head. Repeat about 5 times with each arm. You may look and feel a bit like an upturned beetle but this will give some relief to your upper lumbar spine.

You can also place your tennis ball sock at the base of your spine, just above your pelvis and then gently rock back and forward over it.  If you have neck pain you can locate it just below your skull and wriggle your neck around on it. All movements should be gentle and slow, but it is much more comfortable than it sounds and you can get quite a lot of relief in this way.

You can also use single tennis balls on their own to give yourself a quite deep massage and relieve some of those tight muscles. Essentially you place the ball between you and the floor or wall, placing it under the tender points you might find in your buttock or back of your shoulder, down the outside of your thigh or maybe your calf muscles.

Please do not ever place it directly over your spine. The aim of this is to achieve a melting of the knots in your muscles so apply enough pressure so that you feel ‘good’ pain then allow yourself to relax and wait for the pain to fade away.

This method should reduce the pain by about 75%. If you find yourself wincing, grimacing or holding your breath, then you are applying too much pressure, you won’t be able to relax and you won’t achieve the release.

Don’t try to treat too many points in any one session and try not to overuse the muscles you have worked on for 24 hours, applying heat and gently stretching after you have worked out the knots will help the effect last longer.

If you have a dog you may want to keep your tennis balls and the sock hidden away as they can be very tempting to play with, or you could just go and play tennis with them. That's how to relieve back pain fast 

If you are still struggling with discomfort and pain, then book in with one of our osteopaths today by clicking here.