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  • {\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.21.2509;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\sa200\sl276\slmult1\qj\lang9\f0\fs28 Hi, I'm Paula Moore The Chiropractor and I

  • am here to talk to you today about how to use a tennis ball for your lower back trouble.

  • Now I probably didn't invent this but I feel as if I have because my patients absolutely

  • love it and they tell me it's the best thing they have ever learned.\par

  • I don't know how long it has been around, but I found it one day after I had injured

  • my back and I haven't looked back since. It is one of the most popular exercises I give

  • my clients. I use it to get rid of knots in the low back. It can be used all over the

  • body but it is particularly great for the low back, in those hard to reach places.\par

  • I'm going to show you where you are going to be using this. This is you facing the spine, looking from

  • behind. The tennis ball is to be used in your low back, between the crest of your pelvic

  • bone and the lower margin of the ribs, either side of the lumbar spine. Those are the areas

  • you are going to be looking for your muscular knots.\par

  • When you are lying on your back you are going to be placing it along the lumbar margins.

  • In particular, there is a sweet spot where you get on a muscle called your quadratus

  • lumborum (the QL). On most people I can find a trigger point (a muscular knot) on the QL.

  • Certainly found on people with lower back pain.\par

  • This is so effective, because you can travel with a tennis ball so you are never stuck

  • in pain, not knowing what to do. So this is great for muscle spasms and knotted muscles.

  • A knot in a muscle you can think of as a build up of lactic acid where a muscle has been

  • over working. So athletes get these and people with back trouble get these, where the lactic

  • acid has formed a knot. \par Pressure can either be applied with my thumb,

  • as a chiropractor, or my elbow when I'm feeling particularly mean or a tennis ball. So you

  • can apply pressure to your own trigger points and help melt them away. So take a look at

  • me lying on my back now.\par So just before you lie back, you've got your

  • tennis ball in the same hand as the side you'll apply it to. You're going to lie on your back

  • and roll your knees to the side. Have a feel with your own fingers for the tender points,

  • the areas that feel knotted. Move the tennis ball around until you find a particularly

  • tender point. Remember the spots between the crest of the pelvis and where the ribs end

  • and close to the bony spine but not on the bone. \par

  • So you put the ball in and you roll your knees back. Move the ball around until you find

  • a tender point. For some people this is enough weight to get the tension onto the ball and

  • feeling the tenderness. If you can't find a tender point, you can increase the weight

  • on the tennis ball. I do this by taking my foot onto my opposite knee and tipping. Sometimes

  • I use my hands, cupping them over my knee and tipping right onto the ball, putting a

  • little more weight onto the point. \par The key with these tender points is that you

  • need to stay on the point until the discomfort completely fades. If you come off the ball

  • before they have faded you can actually switch the points on and cause aggravation. If you

  • feel the tenderness travel down your leg, that's ok, just remember that that is a more

  • chronic point that has been there longer. Stay on it until it completely fades. On average

  • that will take from 20 seconds to two or three minutes for the more chronic points. \par

  • When the pain has completely gone, slowly roll off the tennis ball and move the tennis

  • ball to another tender point. Find two or three tender points each side and remember to stay on them until they fade

  • completely.\par To come off the ball, roll your knees away

  • and come up onto all fours, don't just sit straight up. This can be done every single

  • day. This exercise is best to be done once you have been up a couple of hours. My preference

  • is to do it after a hot bath or after a little exercise or at the end of the day when you

  • will get a lot more out of it. You may be a little sore after the exercise.\par

  • Be careful not to push down too hard on the tennis ball as you can bruise your muscle.

  • If you do bruise the muscle, arnica lotion is great and the bruising won't last long

  • anyway. It can be sore the next day. Remember if there is anything you are really concerned

  • about, see your chiropractor or GP. \par \pard\sa200\sl276\slmult1\par

  • }

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