A tube of tennis balls costs $3.00 and tennis balls can break up your knots.
Nearly all of my clients say at some point during their massage, "I'm full of knots" or "Is that a knot?" when I touch a sensitive spot in their muscle. Then the next question is, "What exactly is a knot?"
A knot, or an adhesion, is an abnormal joining of your muscle tissue or fascia ( the connective tissue surrounding your muscles). Knots can form if you don't use the muscle often, if you use it too often, or as a result of the muscle trying to repair itself after an injury. If you have an adhesion, the muscle cells will have a hard time absorbing nutrients and might stay in a contracted state which causes the pain your are feeling.
Massage can break up these adhesions and get the muscle back to a healthy state--which means you feel A LOT better! However, if it's the middle of the night and you have a knot in your back that's keeping you up, break out the tennis balls!
Place the ball in a tube sock and hold onto the end of the sock as you lean up against a wall with the tennis ball right where you need it. Roll against it and make sure you work the surrounding area (you might feel pain in one place but the knot could be above, below, or around that area).
If you have plantar fasciitis, roll your feet over the balls to break up adhesions on the bottom of your foot.
Give it a try and let me know if it works for you. Or if you have any other self-care tips you'd like to share, I'd love to know!
We all have adhesions...that's just what happens when we use or don't use our muscles, but if you know why it happens and how to fix it, you're on the road to whole body health :)
