In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix full back
pain with a tennis ball. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in Saint
Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to tackle
full back pain, pretty much from the base of the neck all the
way down to the pelvis. The only special piece of equipment,
if you wanna call it that, I'm going to be using is a
homemade peanut massage tool. I place two tennis balls in a
large beat up sock right here. There's actually a nice hole
right there and at that point, I'm going to twist it, tie it
so that way we have a very snug peanut tool that's going to be
able to roll. All these exercises are easy, effective,
can be done at home and may give quick back pain relief, even in
as little as thirty seconds! So, let's get started and get
rid of that back pain right now. So, here's a really easy
way to be able to target the base of the neck and the upper
part of the upper back which is a problematic area of pain and
discomfort for many. I'm going to be using my peanut tool for
this. I'm going to position this over the upper back,
placing the tennis balls over the muscle and then in the
groove right here, placing the spine over that. That way, it's
a little bit more comfortable it won't cause any irritation.
This one is also best done in bed. However, you can do it on
the floor if you feel like you get better results. So, let's
start off by placing the peanut tool right over the spot that
we're going to focus on. And then I'm going to slide towards
the edge of that bed to the point where my head can just go
off like this. You should already start to feel a very
good self massage into that area. Only go to your comfort
level but what we want to do is just a nice, slow rolling
motion like this. We bring our head down and it feels really
good. Just try to do this for about twenty to thirty seconds.
From there, you're just going to relax, take a breather, and
then you're going to repeat this up to three to five times.
How we can take this one to the next level is we can lift our
butt up like this into a bridge like exercise. When we do this,
gravity is going to take our body weight and drive it down
towards our head over the spot of the peanut massage tool.
This can become very intense or go to your comfort level. The
more that you raise the butt up, the more intense this is
going to get. Once we've hit a very comfortable self massage
into that area, let's try to hold this one for an extended
period of time. Up to thirty seconds. However, if you do
feel comfortable, you can hold it for longer. Forty-five
seconds, sixty seconds. The great part about this one too
is you're going to get a very good back workout. Also, core
muscle workout with this. When you need a breather, just lower
down like this and then try to repeat this one up to five times.
How we can even take this to the next level, let's take one
arm like this and slide it across the lower back. This
will activate a muscle called the trapezius which runs in the
upper back all the way up to the neck. What we want to do
from there is take the other hand, place it on the side of
the head like this and take our ear on the other side towards
that other shoulder. So, if I'm using my left hand like this,
I'm going to take my right ear towards my right shoulder. This
really opens up the upper back and it feels really really
good! So, try to stretch into this one as much as you can.
Hold this one for at least 20 seconds but you can hold it
for longer again if you feel comfortable. When you need a
breather, just lower down like this and then try to stretch
into it further on the next repetition. Try to do this for
three to five complete repetitions. And when you're
done on one side, always switch to the other to keep them both
in balance. A more common spot to see back pain and discomfort
is in the upper back especially in between the shoulder blades.
The problem is, it's not a very easy spot to reach. So, let's
make it easy. I'm gonna take my tennis ball. I'm going to place
it in a large socks. So, we can use our peanut tool if you
would like. You can also use a trash bag, grocery bag, a
pillowcase, it all works because that way, we have a
nice handle that we can raise and lower the tennis ball to
hit those hard-to-reach spots. I'm also going to go next to a
door or a wall. So, what I'm going to do is place it off to
the side that I'm feeling pain. Maybe it's a little bit more
off to my right right here. We don't want to place the tennis
ball directly over the spine only over muscle. No irritation
that way. So, I'm going to space my legs out. I should
say, I'm going to put my feet together. I'm going to space my
legs a little bit forward from the door. That way, my body is
leaning and then, I'm going to press with my heels with my
body weight into those tennis balls. Only to a point where
it's a very comfortable self massage. From there, what I'm
going to do is a slight chin tuck like this and then go up
and down. Kind of use your legs just to go up and down you can
also go side to side you can do circular motions or take this
at any angle that you would like. Experiment with it and use
what is most effective but either way you want to do this
with enough pressure and enough movement to get a nice self
massage for about 20 seconds, from there you're going to
relax take a breather and then you're going to repeat this up
to five times. With each repetition use your body
weight to drive into it a little bit more to get again a
little bit more self release. How we can take this one to the
next level is whatever side that you're on, let's take that
arm. So, in this case will be my right. I'm going to bend the
elbow at 90° and then I'm going to just take the elbow back
towards the door or the wall and this feels really really
good. So, what you want to do is a nice motion of going
forward and then backwards. It should take you about 5 seconds
and challenge yourself to drive that elbow back as far as you
can. Do this for ten to fifteen complete repetitions. You can
also do what is called the wall angel. So, what I'm going to do
is then raise my hand up like this towards the ceiling.
Elbows still bend at ninety degrees. I'm going to take the
elbow all the way back towards the door and this will really
activate those muscles into the upper back and then I'm going
to go up and then I'm down just like this very, very slowly. So,
let's raise the arm up as much as we can and then go all the
way down as much as we can. Challenge yourself to really
drive your elbow back as far as you can with each repetition
because it's only going to help activate those muscles and get
more pain relief. You want to do this one nice and slowly for
about ten to fifteen complete repetition. From there, you can
switch over different spots, go over to the other side and I
hope that one gives very quick pain relief. To target more
into the middle to upper backs, I'm going to be using what is
called the floor roll because I'm going to be on the floor.
This one is a personal favorite for many because it can offer a
satisfying pop crack or self release into the back. Let's
use our peanut tool for this also. What I'm going to do is
start off on the floor flat on my back. The tennis balls are
going to go over the muscles and then my spine is going to
go right in the groove. Let's just position it right over the
spot that you want to target. So, in this case, it's gonna be
just a little bit over my middle back. My hands go on the
back of my head to stabilize it for extra comfort. From there,
I'm just going to use my legs and heels to drive over that
spot just nice and slow up and down. You only want to go to
your comfort level with this. The more that you raise the
butt up too, the more intense that will get. So, experiment
with raising the butt and lowering it until you find that
sweet swap per se, but you can do this up and down very slowly
for as long as you need. 20 seconds or longer until that
feels like it starts to release and then from there just move
to different spots to target them as well. If you find that
you need a little bit more in that spot, what you can do is
stop over the area that you're having discomfort and then
lower the head down as much as you can. This puts the back
into extension to open up those joints and then I'm going to
wing the elbows down towards the floor and this feels like a
very good stretch. You'll feel it into the chest in the front
and it should almost feel like your shoulder blades in the
back are starting to pinch hold this stretch comfortably for
about 20 seconds. From there, you're going to relax take a
breather and then you're going to repeat this up to five times
with each repetition challenge yourself lower the head down
further try to win those elbows down even more because it's
only going to help open up the back and hopefully give you
more pain relief. You can also do different motions, so what
I'm going to do is go over that spot that we're targeting and
then I'm going to lower my head down towards the floor. Let's
start off with the swimmer. So, put our hands together like
this and then just do nice, wide circles with our arms. Go
up and down just very slowly. It should take you about 5
seconds to do one complete movement. You're going to feel
the muscles in the upper back fire just a little bit
differently but try to do this for about ten to fifteen times
and then when you're done with that, switch directions to hit
them muscles again just a little bit differently because it
might just give you a little bit more relief. You can also
do what are known as snow angels. So that's just taking
the arms down like this and then kind of like in winter
time you're on the ground making a snow angel with your
arms. Just nice, wide, big circles like this. Again, it
should take you about 5 seconds to do one complete movement and
try to do about ten to fifteen repetitions but go through all
of these motions and if one feels like it hits that spot
just a little bit more, throw some more repetitions in there
until you finally feel that release. To target the lower
back with our tennis ball, we'll want to go next to a door
or a wall. What I'm going to do is also wear shoes during this
because you'll have a little bit more grip. It makes the
exercise just a little bit easier. Let's start off by
taking our tennis ball and placing it over to one side.
With this one, you only want to go over muscle not over the
spine. So, in this case, I have a little bit more off towards
my right. From there, I'm just going to lie back like this. My
head is going to be supported on the floor. Already, you're
going to feel a lot of pressure over the tennis ball and what
you want to do from there is use your legs right here, your
heels to kinda drive down a little bit further. That way,
you can raise and lower your butt like this to control how
much pressure is over that tennis ball. Once you hit a
comfortable amount of pressure, kind of like a self massage into
that ball. Do a nice side-to-side motion with your
pelvis and your butt like this and it feels pretty good. Kinda
like a nice self massage, you can do this for about 20
seconds. From there, just relax, take a breather and then on the
next repetition try to drive down a little bit more and
repeat this up to three to five times you can also go up and
down like this with the pelvic tilt so instead of going from
side to side we can go up and down with it you can also do
like a hula hoop motion like imagine having a hula hoop
around your waist experiment with those and take what
movement you feel is more effective at hitting those
spots. From there, you can move up and down and just target
different going towards the other side. If you want to take
this one to the next level, what you can do from there is
whatever side that you're on, take that side's leg off, the
leg that is still on the door, press into it with your heel,
and then do a simple knee to the chest. When you do this,
it's going to feel really good. It activates the muscles into
the lower back and it's going to make this one much more
intense. So, when I do this, I'm taking my knee all the way
towards my chest and then I'm focusing on driving my body
weight down as much as I can into the tennis ball. Hold this
position for about twenty seconds. From there, just
relax, take a breather, and then repeat this one up to five
times. Again, each time you do this, take the knee a little
bit further towards you. Lower your body weight into the
tennis ball and then from there, just switch over
different spots as needed. So, here's a great way to target
more across the pelvis across the sacrum, sacroiliac, or SI
joints. It's a two-part exercise that I let to call the pelvic
tilt and roll. So, let's start off on our back. Knees bend at
ninety degrees. Our feet flat against a door or a wall. I'm
going to press my leg weight from the heels into the door
for a stable anchor point. I'm also going to be using my
peanut tool for this. So, let's start off by just putting the
peanut tool right here a little bit below our belt line right
over the sacrum and SI joints. From there, let's just use our
body weight to drive down. The nice thing is that you can how
much pressure that you put down on the tennis balls by just
raising or lowering your butt like this but once we hit that
very comfortable point, what I want to do is a basic pelvic
tilt. Take my hands, place them on my hips like this, and then
rock the pelvis up and down. It's kinda like taking the butt
up and down. When you do this, you're going to feel the tennis
balls glide over the sacrum over those SI joints and it
usually feels really good. You want to do this one nice and
slowly for about ten to fifteen complete repetitions up and
down. Challenge yourself also with each repetition to drive
your body weight further down into the tennis balls because
it's only going to help release more tightness and hopefully
lead to less pain and discomfort and the second part,
what I'm going to do is the pelvic or sacral roll. So, I'm
going to take my arms, brace off to the side like this. Take
the feet off of that wall or door. My knees are going to go
together like this and I'm going to just take them from
side to side very very slowly and this feels really good.
What you want to do is challenge yourself to take the
knees down as far as you can. Hold this for about two to
three seconds, come back up to the middle, and then just
simply go towards the other side. If one of your SI joints
is locked up during this exercise, you might feel a
sudden pop, crack, or self release. That is completely
normal. That's just gas is being released from that
sacroiliac joint but you want to do this one nice and slow
for about two to three second holds and ten to fifteen
repetitions on each side. So, If you like the video and it helped,
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