It’s not rocket science to do spiky ball work, but if I had a dollar for every time I hear of how I hear people say they are using their spiky ball and its not helping, its showing me there needs to be a deeper understanding of how it works. Maybe they’re using it too much, too often, not often enough, not giving it enough time, they become too sore afterwards.
So I have created a step by step guide on how to use your spiky ball to deactivate those sore trigger points that are cause your pain and decrease in movement.
Warm up the area
This is really really really important to do. An effective deep tissue treatment, be is done by a qualified practitioner or self treatment, should ALWAYS commence after the area has been warmed. When the area is ‘warmed’, there is an increase in blood flow, which means an increase of oxygen on the muscles. This is whets needed to help the area heal optimally from the deep tissue work we’re about to do
Warming up the area to be worked on can be done in a variety of ways (bath / shower / heat pack / gentle massage) If using gentle massage, apply only 50% pressure and aim for a minimum of 2-3 minutes
Find the ‘aaaahhhhh’ spots
These ‘aaaahhhh’ spots are often referred to as trigger points and when palpated, they illicit a ‘good pain’ response. The pain can be local to where its being palpated (directly on the trigger point) OR they may refer pain to another area (eliciting a sensation that isn’t where palpation is occurring)
These spots feel very differently to a tight area in your muscles. When these are deactivated, the results are much greater then working on the entire area that is ‘sore’
Activate the trigger point
Using your self-treatment tool, activate the trigger point by applying perpendicular pressure onto the trigger point – this is ideally done using your body weight and gravity.
Imagine is you are working within a pain scale for deep tissue– If 10 out of 10 is the worst pain (usually done at the deepest of deep tissue work), then you’ll want to reach 7-8/10
Once its activated – don’t move off it. You will be tempted to move around on it, but the key here is to stay still.
Just breathe into it,
Stay there until its longer a 7-8
Keep the trigger point ‘activated’, meaning maintain the pressure applied, until it goes down to 2-3/10. This may take some time. Anywhere from 10 seconds to a few minutes. Don’t rush this phase. Be patient, its worth it
Again, just breathe into it
Gently come off it
Once down to 2-3/10, gently come off the trigger point (don’t forget the spot). Doing this allows blood to come back into the area. These sore muscles need that blood flow, give this step at least 10 seconds
Repeat
Repeat steps 3-5 another two times on the same trigger point (three times in total)
Liniment
Applying a liniment after deep tissue work supports your muscles to restore back to an equilibrium is a fastracked way at a fiber level. We love using Zen Liniment or Fisiocrem. Both of these products have Flower Bach remedies that assist to bring down swelling and help with any bruising that may have occurred
Stretch
Stretch the area for a minimum of 30 seconds (ideally two minutes)
Tips and Tricks
– Give yourself at least 15 minutes for a successful deactivation. This is a perfect routine to do while watching Netflix at night.
– Allow a minimum of four days in between treating the same area; this is to allow the body to heal the micro bruising. It’s in this phase where the magic behind the scenes happens. Let your body do what it does best when it gets the chance to do so.
– Different self-treatment tools are great for various areas. Build your tool kit up over time. You will want to aim for a spiky ball, a pocket physio and a roller. Ideally more then one of each (except the roller), where you can have one at home, one in your car, one at work etc…
– When ‘activating’ your trigger points, whether on the floor, a wall, seated; pretend you are a leaning tower. Stop leaning when you feel the 7-8/10 threshold.
– The 7-8/10 is the ‘good pain’ threshold, and will feel different each time depending on your tolerance. Stay within this range; it’s not about ‘no pain no gain’. The good pain threshold means the trigger point is activated.
– You will know you were successful when the trigger point no longer feels tender – this usually takes three goes.
– Aim for 2 – 3 different trigger points in the area of complaint (imagine you have created a grid on the area and each line crossed over is an active trigger point – picking 2-3 trigger points, and properly deactivating these will release the whole area)
