And while I don't believe in miracles, I do believe in jinxes enough to not brag about anything before it's proven itself in the long run. That said, WOW! my creaky, gristly, wake-me-up-at-night parts feel pretty great.
The mule who normally kicks me in the right hip at 4'ish in the a.m. has stayed in the barn and so has the little pitchfork which regularly hits my right shoulder with tingles and aches from her razor sharp daggers. The only night my sleep was interrupted by aches and pains have been the nights when I decided to take the day off from literally rolling in the living room floor. The creaks and groans aren't as bad as normal overall, but hitting the floor - and the wall - for some trigger point release is becoming a key part of my daily routine.
Sis first introduced me to the foam roller when she brought hers to the farm a couple of Christmases ago. She was either training for a half-marathon or rehabbing something injured and said foam rolling felt great and had helped her overcome pain and activity intolerance. At that time I was too undone to think about adding anything to my life, especially exercise, so I banked her solid recommendation in the back of my mind where it stayed until recently.
I was actually browsing support pillows when I noticed the Amazon Basics Foam Roller in "Recommended for You" items and started scrolling through the reviews. An hour later, after reading a couple of trusted-source articles about the benefits of foam rolling and trigger point release, I added one of the Amazon ones - 36" long (easier for beginners) in solid blue - to my wish list and began considering how I could integrate twenty minutes of relaxation practice into my daily routine.
The next morning, after tossing and turning and not sleeping well, I found more time to read about trigger point release then hunted for odds and ends to give myself a makeshift session. Jack's homemade back massager - eight old tennis balls ke-bab'ed onto a 20" length of PVC pipe - is a wonderful DIY tool for its intended purpose, but the balls are too soft and squishy to reach deeply enough into muscle tissue to have much impact and neither did an intact tennis ball. A piece of differently-sized PVC pipe we use to massage our feet was too short to do any good on my hip and had rough edges which dug into my skin through my clothes.
So I ordered the roller.
The first workout was clumsy and halting as I fumbled through the moves from the photos in the articles I read, but I knew instantly when I hit my piriformis. I mostly knew what to expect and moved the tight band of muscle across the roller, settling slightly into the "knot" and allowing the roller to press more deeply into the tissue. I felt an easing of the tightness and slowly rolled myself down to the next little tight spot and moved around and to the other side. After finishing with my hips and buttocks, I shifted my effort to my upper body. The roller felt a little clunky around my shoulders, but I followed the sequence of exercises I'd reviewed ahead of time and went about the rest of my day.
That night I slept more comfortably than I have in as long as I can remember. All kinds of variables come into play and the keys to restful sleep aren't the same for everyone, but right now, I seem to be closing in on some of mine.
In the weeks since I started rolling every other day or so and with the addition of a lacrosse ball and a massage orb, both inexpensive additions to my toolbox that were recommended by my massage therapist friend to isolate specific muscles around my shoulders, the results have taken me to the next level.
Not only am I sleeping better, I parked the car today and was able to turn my head and shoulders both directions instead of backing into the parking place instead of relying solely on the mirrors. I look forward to seeing where this goes.
It is definitely a path in a positive direction.
Here's a good basic resource if you're interested:
