Foam rolling has become a popular therapy for relieving pain, increasing flexibility, and reducing overall lower back discomfort.
But is it the ideal technique for treating lower back pain?
Foam Roll Lower Back - A Practical Guide
Foam rolling can help relieve lower back tightness, but it must be done carefully to prevent causing future pain.
1. Choose a proper foam roller: To prevent putting too much pressure on the spine, choose a comfortable foam roller.
2. Setting up: Sit on the floor, legs bent and feet flat. Place the foam roller behind you and gradually lean back until it is just over your hips.
3. Activate your core: Tighten your ab muscles to stabilize your spine while avoiding direct pressure on the vertebrae.
4. Start rolling: Gently roll up and down from your mid-upper back to just above the hips, concentrating on the muscles along the spine. To avoid damage, don't roll straight on the lower vertebrae.
5. Add moderate pressure: Use your legs to manage the pressure, adjusting the weight as needed. If you notice a particularly tight region, use the roller for 20-30 seconds to enable the muscle to relax.
6. Include stretching: After foam rolling, gently stretch the lower back and hips to relieve tension.
Foam Roll Lower Back - Technique
Lower back pain is often caused from tension and tightness built up in different muscles around the lumbar spine and tailbone.
Foam rolling for lower back pain does not mean strictly rolling out your lower back. In fact, rolling out the arch in your lower back can compress your spinal joints negativley.
Experiencing cracking may feel good initially, but it's not always beneficial for alleviating lower back pain. Massaging surrounding muscles will make for a more flexible and healthy low back.
Complimentary muscles to consider when foam rolling for back pain relief include; glute muscles, hamstrings, hip flexors, quadratus lumborum, and tensor fasciae latae.
Foam Roller vs. Rollga
Rollga foam roller is a multifunctional roller that targets many muscles and allows for a deeper roll.
Many customers like it because of it's uncommon caterpillar-like shape, but how is it better than a standard foam roller?
Rollaga was created to outperform the standard foam roller in that it allows you to reach deeper into certain areas of the body.
Both the standard foam roller and rollga have their own set of benefits, and depending on your fitness goals, one can have a greater effect than the other.
The rollga is designed to attack several muscle groups.
I found the rollga was best styled for the mid-upper back, glutes (medius and minimus), tensor fasciae latae (TFL), and hamstings.
I found the standard foam roller was better for a wider range of rolling techniques, especially when it came to relieving soreness. The standard foam roller was also more stable and easier to apply to general warm ups.
Is Foam Rolling the Most Effective Treatment for Lower Back Pain?
While foam rolling might provide temporary relief, it's important to recognize its limitations and seek alternative techniques to manage lower back pain.
Foam Roller vs. QL Claw
Foam rollers are awesome for relieving soreness. However, if your goal is to relieve pain, you will need a tool that can reach deeper than just the surface of the muscle, a tool that can reach Trigger Points.
Trigger Points are irritable contraction knots in muscles that can cause a ton of pain throughout the body [1]. A foam roller or massage stick will not reach the majority of trigger points, especially in lower back pain inducing muscles.
A great replacement is the QL Claw. The design of the tool mimics a therapists elbow/knuckle for breaking up tight tissue in those hard-to-reach places.
If you suffer from QL, psoas, glute, or hip flexor pain, the QL Claw is a great choice.
Sources:
[1] Donnelly, Joseph M. Travell, Simons & Simons Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: the Trigger Point Manual. 3rd ed., Wolters Kluwer Health, 2019.