Self Care

The Back Roller

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Take a chiropractor home with you!

The back roller; the most effective self care tool for most backs.  The back roller is a powerful tool for relaxing and mobilizing your spine. Most of us sit too much and slump, resulting in postural stress which leads to fatigue, low energy and back and neck pain. The back roller is a simple way to stretch the other way. If you're really stiff take it easy. With persistence you will find your spine getting more and more free and comfortable.

 

Get Your Own Back Roller Treat your back at home The Back Roller has been a key part of my program for self cae and postural correction for over 15 years.  Patients who use it tell me it helps them relieve back stress and pain between visits.  I see increased flexibility and better spinal motion, improved posture with less stress, as well and relief of chronic muscle tension.  It's an essential tool for modern life.    --Dr. George Manlove $30 plus S&H At the office or call or email to place an order. It makes a GREAT GIFT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• It's tremendously energizing anytime.
• It's a great way to take a work or study break.
• Revive yourself at the end of a work day.
• Improve posture.
• Prevent back and neck problems.
• The roller is an important part of my program of spinal and postural improvement.
  
  
  

Once a day keeps the chiropractor away -- or at least makes corrections last much longer. If you use the roller you will get better faster and feel better.

The roller makes a great gift.

The roller allows a deep, segment-by-segment stretch of the spine.

How to Use the Roller

The roller is best used on the floor rather than a bed or other soft surface. Loose clothing or long hair can get caught in the rolling process, so tuck things in or tie up long hair. You can start anywhere. I usually start in the upper back. Gently move your body rolling down the length of your spine. Wherever you find tightness stop and breathe and allow a deep stretch until you feel the area release. Stop if there is sharp pain. If you are flexible try stretching your arms over your head and lowering your buttocks toward the floor.

Other ideas:

• Neck release: Many people like to lie with the roller under the neck, allowing the head to stretch backward.
• Shoulder release: Lying on your side with the roller under the arm pit will release tension in the shoulders.
• Low back: Lying on your side, with the roller between the ribs and the top of the hip bone, roll your whole body slightly backwards, releasing the deep lateral muscles of the spine (quadratus lumborum muscle).
• Buttocks: In the same position as for the low back use the roller to get into tight gluteus maximus and piriformis muscles of the buttocks.
• Upper back: You can put the roller the long way along the spine with the top at the base of the neck. Stretch your arms out sideways and rock gently sideways.
• Use your imagination: You can roll out stiff leg muscles, work on tight abdominal muscles, etc.

The roller compared to other back tools:

 

 

 

• Ma roller: The Ma roller is a hardwood turning with two bulges which massage the spine. I used one to get me through all the studying of chiropractic school. First it is much harder and much more uncomfortable than the roller. Second, because it is smaller in diameter it does not have the same effect of stretching the front of the spine.
• Physio ball or exercise ball: These large balls are great for general stretching and can be useful for getting traction of the low back. They do not have the same effect of stretching the front of the spine on a segment by segment basis nor do they allow the massage-like action on spinal muscles.

What the roller is does:

1. The roller mobilizes joints -- often you can hear some clicks as joints open up. In my experience it is not a replacement for chiropractic if there is a significant joint fixation, but it will definitely keep joints moving and healthy.
2. Massages back muscles -- it has a squeezing action on the muscles which helps them relax and gets rid of lactic acid buildup.
3. It stimulates all the acupuncture points of the bladder meridian which lie on both sides of the spine.
4. It stretches the anterior longitudinal ligament (see picture) -- the long fibrous ligament (ligaments hold bones together) which becomes short, thick and tight in people who stay slumped or stooped for long periods (often years). This is a gradual process but can really make a huge difference in improved posture and overall well being.
5. Effects on spinal cord tension and brain stem nuclei: A Swedish Neurosurgeon, Dr. Alf Breig, showed that the loss of the normal cervical spinal curve is associated with the development of many serious health problems. He showed that the loss of the normal cervical lordotic curve actually creates an "adverse tension" on the dural linings covering the brain and spinal cord, the meninges. This leads to internal (sub-dural) pressure changes which are great enough to compress the brain stem nuclei (nerve cluster centers) which regulate many (most) of our basic bodily functions. (Brieg A: Adverse Mechanical Tension in the Central Nervous System. Almquist & Wiskell, Stockholm,1978)

CAUTIONS: IF YOU HAVE SPECIAL SPINAL PROBLEMS OR PAIN CONSULT YOUR CHIROPRACTOR OR OTHER HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER BEFORE USING THE ROLLER.

Use common sense when beginning to use the roller. Stop if there is sharp pain or any radiation of pain -- pain that moves into the arms and hands or legs.

If you have any of the following conditions DO NOT use the roller without supervision:

• Severe osteoporosis or other bone weakening conditions such as metastatic bone diseases.
• Inflammatory spinal conditions such as ankylosing spondylitis.
• Acute disc herniations.
• If in doubt ASK.

The roller works best as part of a program including chiropractic adjusting. Manipulation restores normal joint motion. The roller can then maintain that motion.

If you're having problems using the roller because of back stiffness: Try the following in this order:

• Try lifting the weight off your back by using your legs to lift the buttocks. You can then gently lower yourself onto the roller to the point of stretch but not pain.
• For the upper back, it might help to put a pillow or even two pillows under your head to lessen the strain on the neck and upper back.
• You can try putting a blanket or thick towel, folder over several times to make a thick pad, over the roller.
• If that is still too much start with just a blanket or towel rolled unto about a six inch roll and stretch backward over that.
• Remember -- if your back is so stiff that you can't comfortably use the roller YOU NEED IT. Take it easy but be persistent and eventually you will be able to tolerate the roller and start to restore normal motion to your back.

Why persistence is important:

When your back is stiff and can't bend backward, it forces you to sit and stand with your head forward. This places a chronic strain on your lower neck and upper back and is, in my experience, a common cause of neck and arm pain syndromes as well as the cause of wearing out of the disc and joints of the lower neck leading to disc degeneration.

The constant pull on the upper back and shoulders can be a cause of chronic headache.

A stiff midback also puts strain on the low back and can contribute to the same conditions as in the neck.

Being bent over prevents you from taking a full breath and compresses internal organs.

And as noted above, it can cause a constant traction of spinal cord on the brainstem adversely affecting central nervous system functioning.

With improved posture you will look better and have more energy.

 

• Chiropractic adjusting to restore normal motion of each specific joint .
• Stretching including using the roller and other techniques to lengthen shortened ligaments and tendons. -- Use the Back Roller!
• Specific exercises to strengthen supporting muscles.
• Postural awareness -- use it or lose it!

© 2008 George Manlove, DC   All rights reserved. 

Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Manlove, unless otherwise noted. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Manlove. Dr. Manlove encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

 These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products discussed in these articles are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.  If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your physician before using any product.