The Stick / Foam Rollers (was: Tight IT band and chondromalacia patella)

[Guest guest]

Ann:

The acupressure points you refer to sound like trigger points (tight

bands, or knots, in muscle tissue). Direct pressure on trigger

points helps relieve them too, which is why massages work on " tight "

backs and shoulders. It physically loosens up the trigger points.

Oh well, a rose by any other name...

Anyway, I have found that the Stick is a big help with trigger points

and is much easier than using a tennis ball. The Stick is basically

a fancy rolling pin designed for use on the body. I use it every day

before I bike or run. It helps loosen up the muscles without

stressing the connective tissues. Definitely hurts so good!

http://www.thestick.com

Some members of this Group (as you've read recently) juse a Foam

Roller for the same purpose. Just search for " Foam Roller " on Google

and you'll find a ton of info.

HTH,

Doug

You can help relieve the contraction/pain

> by either lying on a tennis ball or leaning on one against the

wall. There

> are several spots in the lower & mid-back muscles (and also in other

> muscles, esp. up higher in the back, for other problems) that, if

pressed on

> with a thumb, will " hurt so good " . These are acupressure spots.

Nobody

> understands why they work, but they do. If you press (hard enough

to " hurt

> so good " but not hard enough to really hurt) for one minute (don't

overdo

> it) on all the spots that hurt so good, you'll feel relief. For

some

> reason, the relief may not come immediately but half an hour or so

after

> you've done the acupressure. You can also do this on your IT band

against

> the wall (using the tennis ball, of course). You'd be surprised at

how many

> of these acupressure points live in your lateral thigh.

[Guest guest]

Yes, they're also called trigger points. I don't like calling them that

because of the confusion with the " tender points " of fibromyalgia, which are

called " trigger points " by some practitioners. My first PT called them

acupressure points and that works for me.

Thanks for the lead on The Stick.

Ann

Ann:

The acupressure points you refer to sound like trigger points (tight

bands, or knots, in muscle tissue). Direct pressure on trigger

points helps relieve them too, which is why massages work on " tight "

backs and shoulders. It physically loosens up the trigger points.

Oh well, a rose by any other name...

Anyway, I have found that the Stick is a big help with trigger points

and is much easier than using a tennis ball. The Stick is basically

a fancy rolling pin designed for use on the body. I use it every day

before I bike or run. It helps loosen up the muscles without

stressing the connective tissues. Definitely hurts so good!

http://www.thestick.com

Some members of this Group (as you've read recently) juse a Foam

Roller for the same purpose. Just search for " Foam Roller " on Google

and you'll find a ton of info.

HTH,

Doug

You can help relieve the contraction/pain

> by either lying on a tennis ball or leaning on one against the

wall. There

> are several spots in the lower & mid-back muscles (and also in other

> muscles, esp. up higher in the back, for other problems) that, if

pressed on

> with a thumb, will " hurt so good " . These are acupressure spots.

Nobody

> understands why they work, but they do. If you press (hard enough

to " hurt

> so good " but not hard enough to really hurt) for one minute (don't

overdo

> it) on all the spots that hurt so good, you'll feel relief. For

some

> reason, the relief may not come immediately but half an hour or so

after

> you've done the acupressure. You can also do this on your IT band

against

> the wall (using the tennis ball, of course). You'd be surprised at

how many

> of these acupressure points live in your lateral thigh.

[Guest guest]

Here's an article on trigger points and knee pain: http://www.round-

earth.com/kneepain-quadriceps.html It's interesting that trigger

points in the quad muscles refer pain to the knee.

I'm reading the following book in an effort to learn more about the

subject: http://www.triggerpointbook.com/index.html. Dr. Cohen broke

up triggers in my IT band and rectus femoris, but they came back.

Strangely, using my foam roller makes things worse (each time I

roll, the triggers get more sore, and the referred pain in my knee

increases). Maybe I need to start more slowly - gently roll for just

a short amount of time. Tomorrow I'm seeing a massage therapist. I

hope to observe her technique and then do it myself in the future.

>

> The foam roller works great for the back as well. (I haven't tried

the stick, but I would guess that it would be easier to use the

roller on your back then the stick.) Of course what is BEST is a

real live person with a knobber-type massage tool.

<snip>

[Guest guest]

Yes. Applying pressure to trigger/acupressure points can be self-

administered, and that is the only way to go for most of us, but...

1) What Dr. Cohen does is actually stick a needle into the trigger

point and it disappears. Mine would come back until the ligament &

tendon damage that I had was cured. Trigger points are often caused

lax joints -- apparently the muscles are working overtime to try to

compensate for weak ligments and tendons. If you notice a

recurring " twitch " in a muscle, especially a large muscle like the

VMO, odds are good that you have some damage to the joint(s) that the

muscle is attached to.

2) It can get incredibly expensive, but there is no substitute for a

real " deep-tissue " massage (administered by a professional). I've

only gotten one in my life (like I said, incredibly expensive), but

there is no way I could have loosened up my muscles like the pro did.

- Doug

> It's so easy to do acupressure on oneself there's really no point

in having

> someone else do it. Plus you can do it more than once a day w/o

having to

> go to somebody's office]