Using a Foam Roller for Back Pain Relief

Back pain can put a real cramp in life. Not being able to bend down, not being able to pick up the kids, go for a jog or even a walk can get frustrating and cause depression and feelings of hopelessness when the back pain is chronic. Often back pain can be caused by tight muscles in the back area. A therapist may advise doing exercise with the assistance of a foam roller to alleviate back pain and get you on the road to living life.

Hip Roll

• A hip roll will help to remove muscle tension in the back and the gluts. Simply place the foam roller on the floor. Lay down on your side so that your your hips is on the roller, your feet are on the floor and your arm is holding your body up. Use your upper leg to provide stability and then roll from your hip to mid-thigh. Stop when you feel discomfort and allow the body to stretch out that area of the back.

Knee Roll

• A knee roll will emphasis more of the mid-back area. You'll want to position your body exactly the same as you do for a hip roll but this time you'll be moving the foam roller farther down your body to your knee. Once again, hold position when you feel discomfort and allow that part of the body to stretch out.

Back Roll

• Probably the simplest form of exercise using a foam roller is the back roll. The back roll can be done to achieve results for the entire back, from shoulders to waist. To do the back roll, simply lay the foam roller on the floor and then lay your back on the roller, bending your knees and using your arms for support. Both your arms and your knees can be used to push your body back and forth on the roller to stretch out various areas of your back. You can vary the workout through how you position your arms and legs and how much bend you have in them. The lower you are to the ground, the more stretching you can do.

Caution

• When you exercise a sore back, you need to make sure that you don't overdo it. Take things slowly and stretch the back out at a pace that won't hurt the back. You may want to baby your back the first few times with the foam roller and then gradually bring up the time and difficulty of the exercises.