Trigger point release via massage is one of the most effective ways to treat muscle pain. With new emerging tools like the Body Back Buddy and QL Claw, you can feel the benefits of trigger point self-massage right at home. Read on to hear the case for trigger point therapy and determine which massage tool is best for you!
Back Buddy & QL Claw - What Is A Trigger Point Tool?
Back Buddy and QL Claw are two of the most versatile trigger point release tools on the market. Both massage tools effectively work out muscle knots and trigger points that can cause a lot of pain in the body.
What Is A Trigger Point? A trigger point is a taut, angry band of muscle that holds constant tension in the body. Trigger points can affect muscles from head to toe. Some common symptoms of trigger points can include aching or sharp pain, muscular imbalance, and even nerve impingement [1] [2]. (Check out our page on page on Hip Impingement Exercises!)
Pain Referral Pattern Of The QL Muscle In The Lower Back [1]
QL Claw and Back Buddy work on the principle of releasing trigger points in the body for pain relief. Trigger points can be extremely painful and they can hold their constant tension for years. If you have a nagging joint or muscle pain I would highly recommend looking into trigger points as a potential pain source.
Back Buddy Vs. QL Claw - Benefits Of Each
Like all tools of every industry, each trigger point tool has its specialty. No one tool is inherently better than the other, but one is likely more right for you and your needs.
QL Claw Benefits
QL Claw is designed specifically for lower back pain. Lower back trigger points tend to be quite tough and deep, so QL Claw was intentionally designed to be a fairly deep and intense massage in and around the lower back.
QL Claw Self Massage Tool
The trigger points that contribute to back pain are not all located in the lower back. The Gluteus Medius and Iliacus muscles, for example, lie in the upper glute and hip flexor regions respectively and can contribute to a lot of lower back pain when tight. QL Claw was designed to release trigger points in all of these muscles and does so better than any other product.
How To Use: You lay on it and move around (tutorials walk you through this)
Back Buddy Benefits
The Back Buddy is hands-down one of the most versatile massage tools for the entire body. Back Buddy has 11 knobs that are designed to release nearly every muscle from head to foot.
Body Back Buddy Self Massage Tool
Back Buddy's bread and butter is releasing hard-to-reach mid to upper back muscle knots (although for Rhomboid muscle pain, a massage ball may be required). Muscle knot release is easy to do by yourself with Back Buddy while sitting or standing, or by another person working on you manually.
In addition, Body has Back Buddy tutorials on how to release many other muscle groups in the body including the neck, shoulders, and feet. However, the lower back muscle release may not be intense enough if you struggle with lower back pain specifically.
How To Use: Self-administered handheld massage
In Summary:
Back Buddy Vs. QL Claw - Material
I have to give credit to both products for their material choice. Not only are both products made in the USA, but both products took the extra time and cost to develop truly soothing trigger point material. Neither product is cheap plastic and both are highly durable for their function.
The ideal material for trigger point release is a very firm, yet giving material. A hollow plastic injection mold is too rigid and uncomfortable, and foam is too soft and not intense enough to release rigid muscle tissue. Both the Body Back Buddy and QL Claw lie in the sweet spot of therapeutically delicious material.
Final Body Back Buddy Review
Only you can determine which massage tool is best for your body and use case. If it is in the budget, both Back Buddy and QL Claw belong in your arsenal of trigger point release tools. Nearly everyone in today's age, whether sitting all day working a desk job or working out like a madman 7 days a week (or lying somewhere in between), will find benefit in both tools. Muscle problems plague every lifestyle - although via different mechanisms - and trigger point self-massage may be your ticket out of pain. It was for me!
Read next:
Sources:
[1] Davies, Clair, and Amber Davies. The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief. 3rd ed., New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 2013.
[2] Donnelly, Joseph M. Travell, Simons & Simons Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: the Trigger Point Manual. 3rd ed., Wolters Kluwer Health, 2019.