Hey, it's Dr. Joe. chiropractor and owner of Ocramed Health. For those of you who watch my Youtube videos, you know I upload lots of free videos on myofascial release therapy, teaching you how to loosen up tight, restricted muscles, and break up fascial adhesions (also known as scar tissue).
During our myofascial release videos, we use different types of fascia massage tools, and one of our most popular manual massagers is our line of spiky massage balls, such as our Massage Ball Max
And as I say in the videos, the benefits of using a spiky massage ball is how they can dig deeper into soft tissue and break up scar tissue more efficiently than a round massage ball.
But a lot of times, people will message me and say, "Dr. Joe, I don't have a Massage Ball Max, but I do have a lacrosse ball—or a tennis ball—but this ball is smooth. Can I still perform myofascial release techniques with a smooth massage ball?"
Now, a smooth massage ball can help relieve muscle pain, but a spiky ball is definitely more effective, thanks to the spikes giving you the precision to avoid any bones surrounding the muscle groups you want to target.
For example, a round massage ball, when performing a pin & stretch massage on a muscle such as pec minor, will have trouble avoiding the collar bone.
So I thought I’d help you understand the difference between doing myofascial release with a lacrosse ball vs a Massage Ball Max.
If you take the lacrosse ball, then, with firm pressure, roll the ball in different directions on a paper towel, when you're done, you can see you’ve flattened and wrinkled up the paper towel.
If instead you were massaging your quadricep with a lacrosse ball, you'd probably get some increased blood flow—which is great —but the depth of penetration is limited.
Now, take a spiky massage ball and do the same experiment on another piece of paper towel. You'll notice a different result. As you can see, the spiky massage ball penetrates the paper towel.
After, use the spiky massage ball to massage your quadriceps and you’ll notice you're getting deeper between the muscle fibers, more effectively breaking up stubborn fascial adhesions.
Remember, adhesions and restrictions aren’t on the surface of the muscle groups. You need a myofascial release tool capable of penetrating the deeper soft tissue, which is why I always recommend a spiky massage ball for all our Ocramed Health myofascial release techniques.
Anyways, if anyone’s interested, this is a Massage Ball Max from OcraMed Health, great to have around the house or office for rehabbing different types of soft tissue injuries.
And please, everyone, just stay young and train hard.