A little trick from the ol fella

[Scotto]

Hi everyone, Old Dog here again.

I had some trouble between my blades from sitting and writing to much. It hurt so much it distracted me.

A colleague of mine (Physiologist) showed me a trick that helped a lot and now I pass it on to my clients. He explained to me how so many people are fixed between the dorsal vertibrae from sitting in chairs all day. They have the problem being that the spine works as three seperate pieces rather than the one piece it is designed to work as. A lot of strain is placed on each section that pain between the blades the top traps and neck and lower back are the end results.

He showed me how to lay back on two tennis balls in a sock and perform slow, gentle sit ups but not raising off the balls at any time. By doing ten and then gently easing myself down the balls slot in naturally to the next position. There are 5 positions all up from between D,6, D7 up to C7.

This took me approx 5 min twice daily. Once upon rising and once before bed. I kept this up for somewhere between 1 and 2 mths. As it took a long time for the problem to establish it took some time to repair. But it did I can say. I have also had a lot of good results from my clients. That is to say, the one's who are serious about reversing their pain. Sometimes we must realize we can lead a horse...

Everyone's time needed is different of course as is everything. The firmness of the tennis balls is also variable because some people are more sensitive to pressure and pain than others. This is of course is also a variable that we apply in our general duties as MT's. If the pressure is too great then suggest softer tennis balls. The final word of practical sense is this, the starting position is between D6 and 7 because any lower down and the pressure is uncomfortable, especially on the ribs.

Hope it helps.

Old Dawg.

 

[>Moony<]

since the cause is from desk work and probably shrugging. I would suggest you loosen the front shoulders to give some slack to the shoulder blades tug a war issue. works wonders for my clients. many therapist don't work those front shoulder out. it's all about balance. usually the cause of pain isn't on the site of pain. think whole body interaction. stretch out those pecs and curved shoulder.

Once and only once I had pain in my shoulder blades. no more. I found out it was the front shoulder areas and neck tension through shrugging or from uneven hips causing one shoulder to shrug. sleeping on your side cause tension of the neck and shoulder areas too.

Hope this give you more tricks.

 

[Pompal 09.]

The front side, far side...

You're right of course, I do tend to forget the front and I know I shouldn't. Nice to see we're on the same page though. Looking forward to talking to you again.

Soon I would like to ask some Q's from new students about neck massage as this is my baby. The neck, shoulder tech makes up a big chunk of my business. And so I'd like to learn a few tips to improve myself. Will post here soon.

See ya

 

[ezra]

Well, now I will have to try that!

I have had a lot of pain in that same area, mostly when in in school. We had to bring our own tables every day, haul them for about a block, then get them up two flights of stairs. I used bongers in a similar way to how you used the tennis balls. I used them in the car while driving (yes, shame on me). I would place the ball where I needed the pressure using the long handles, and then push against the steering wheel. Big help. Also good if you are in the car for large amounts of time. Now I probably need a lecture on safe driving habits! (Ok, it proabaly wasn't that unsafe).

And I will take any tricks I can get!
I posted on Dowagers hump the other day. You all know anything about that?

 

["LC" KNOWEN AS AIRFORC]

Interesting. mmm

Sorry to hear you have the same type problem. It's distracting and yuck. Hope the tech helps let me know, please. It does take a while though as I said so be patient with it. I also find that the one's with this problem also don't have enough supporting muscle strength here to hold it all in place. I know I didn't so I turned to my Guru in a book, Paul Chec for some functional exercise tips. That helped also.

Dowager's hump. mmm To tell the truth, I've seen it lots of times on clients but haven't got into that one. I should I know.

Perhaps the tennis ball trick may help that also. I don't know. And sinse the body is moving forward like the leaning tower of pizza... maybe some reverse problem stretches. Meaning hands up, holding a broom handle and arching backwards all easy does it like?

Talk to you again soon I hope

 

[Yimei]

the tennis ball on the back shoulder blades actually causes the body to stretch out the front because of the arch. maybe loosen up the front first. if that don't work, you can also go back to the back. Remember to think of the cause not the problem site.

also because of the muscles we use to massage and looking down. it's common sense that we need to keep front shoulders and neck loose through self preventative massage.

 

[Coleen]

look at [backballs.com.au][/url]

 

[ghost89]

bak balls

Thanx, office

I looked and it's good to know we are on the right track, but they look exactly like black tennis balls without the sock and I bet a whole lot more expensive.

 

[I Hate Pia Mellody]

You might also want to take a look at a couple of books which are a big help:

The Ultimate Body Rolling Workout: The Revolutionary Way to Tone, Lengthen, and Realign Your Body by Yamuna Zake

Yamuna also has a website promoting the balls she sells, which are great, but a bit expensive. I've made use of kids
sports balls, and as long as they have some give to them they seem to work fine.

Structural Yoga Therapy: Adapting to the Individual by
Mukunda Stiles. These techniques are also very powerful and can open up the tight areas, as well as building strength in those areas which are weak.

As to dealing with Dowanger's hump, the only method I'm
aware of, that really seems to help, would be Active Isolated Stretching, as taught by Aaron Mattes. He also has an excellant book showing an amazing range of techniques for working on the whole body, to free up range of motion and assist atheletes and others to regain use of the body following injury, strokes, etc. Through stretching and building strength where needed, a great deal can be accomplished from greatly improving conditions like scoliosis, to rotator/frozen shoulder issues, freeing up old whiplash injuries, etc.

He has taught a number of classes to physical therapists, massage therapists, personal trainers, chiropractors, sports medicine doctors, and the like. He also has a sports medicine rehab clinic in Florida, where he works with professional & olympic level athletes, as well as people who are working to recover from accidents, and have structural issues . I took one of his classes a few years ago, and was very impressed with all that he is able to accomplish in a short period of time.

There are a few other folks out there who have also put their names on similair methods of work as AIS, but I don't have a list of those at the moment.

 

[mudpuppie_80]

I studied with Aaron Mattes and have been using his methods regularly. While I haven't yet used it much for those with Dowager's Hump, it has been very successful with scoliosis. (I am writing up a case study for publication, with photographs included.) AIS addresses both stretching tight areas and strengthening loose/weak areas to restore balanced function, and I recommend it to both bodyworkers and trainers.

 

[L D]

I love tennis balls. Even give them out to clients. New ones, not used, of course!

 

[Tom Odda]

All the little tricks

Good to hear others are doin' it also. Thanks