Foam Roller v Couch
In recent years there has be a massive uptake in the use of foam rollers.
Do foam rollers work?
Yes, used correctly I believe they do.
Are they a substitute for 'hands on massage'?
In my view not really, but that is not to say they do not have their uses.
What therefore does this mean?
I do not believe there is a substitute for the feel and touch of a sports massage therapist. Yes a person might know they have a tender (trigger) point but, is this where the pain is originating from?
You would obviously expect to hear may say this, however let us look at the facts.
Trigger points are caused by the over excitement of an area within a muscle leading to the muscle shortening at this point. It might be hard to correlate but either side of this you have a lengthening of the muscle whilst at the same time being tight (we normally think of tight muscles being short). A tight lengthened muscle will have little motion before it reaches the end of its range of movement. the result of this is a reduction in function and activity of the muscle.
Where I see the main difference is that a foam roller cannot determine why the muscle is tight. It may be that the muscle is tight to protect i.e. the lower back muscles acting to protect the spine. If these tight muscles are released it could lead to more injuries and be counterproductive.
We also see that people using a foam roller repeatedly return to the same area each time they use the roller, why? In my mind the bio-mechanics of the body have not been resolved, we are effectively treating the symptoms not the cause.
When we foam roll we will be more than likely lying on the floor, this in a sense has its own issues. Our muscles support the skeleton against gravity and the nervous system uses this to sense changes and adjust the tension in the muscles accordingly. When we are lying on the floor our muscles are not reacting to gravity and any release of trigger points will not be detected by the nervous system, the resetting of muscle length may not occur.
It is not all doom and gloom for the foam roller
Foam rolling will help the blood flow to the dysfunctional area and help remove waste products from this area. It will also help in the break down of adhesions between tissues thus allowing more motion within the muscles. For a muscle to work fully it needs to glide freely and any adhesions/scar tissues can restrict this gliding action.
Common mistakes in using a foam roller
1. Concentrating right on top of the painful area - we really need to concentrate either side of the area.
2. Rolling too fast - we need to give the brain time to work out what is happening and relax the muscles. We also need to allow the muscles and other superficial layers time to get used to and adapt to the compression, failure in this will create pain and protective reactions from the muscles.
3. Spending too long on one area could lead to potential damage to tissue/nerve through compression against bone.
4. Be careful not to work on areas of the lower back as muscles will jump to protect the spine.
Conclusion
Foam rollers have their uses but must be used correctly and in the right areas. I would also suggest that rolling after exercise is good but consider the effects of rolling before as you may well relax the muscles and consequently lose some of the power within them. Some sports need the raw power and you do not want to reduce that prior to an event.