It’s time to tell you the good and bad things about back rollers.
A long-time patient came in today, and I remarked to him that the condition of the muscles in his back was much better. He was much easier to adjust. He mentioned that a friend encouraged him to start using a back roller.
If you are wondering if this is a good thing, the answer is yes! If you are capable of rolling your upper back and your glutes on either side of your tailbone every day, this is really helpful.
You should not use it on your lumbar spine (lower back). This is because the orientation of the joints makes the lumbar spine vulnerable to damage. Similarly, the back roller is also not very useful on your neck.
What if I hear cracking noises while using a back roller?
One of the misconceptions with the roller is that when you hear cracking noises, people think this is the same as an adjustment. It is definitely not. A cracking noise from rolling your back or just twisting yourself is not a skilled maneuver, that noise is just a sign that there is something wrong.
Alternatively, a chiropractic adjustment is a skillful movement of a joint that is stuck and really needs it. Chiropractic adjustments improve the alignment of the spine and reduce irritation to the vulnerable nerves that exit the spine.
Look at it this way. Cutting yourself is not the same as surgery. It is a surgeon’s skill that removes the appendix, for example, not the act of cutting and bleeding. Likewise, cracking your own back isn’t the same as an adjustment. It’s the skill of the chiropractor that adjusts your spine, not the cracking noise. like attempting to do surgery to yourself, when you crack your own spine you could be causing damage, albeit less than surgery.
Why is back rolling good?
If you were like a beautiful wooden sculpture, an adjustment is like a hammer and chisel or sandpaper, where the back roller is like a chainsaw. The back roller is good for roughing things in by clearing out the tight muscles and getting circulation going, and stimulating the body, but it is also quite imprecise both in location and in the amount of force.
The forces from the roller can cause misalignments and damage and make you need more adjustments. I would say that in the case where you use a back roller, those adjustments will definitely be easier for me, and easier for you, and overall I would say there is a net benefit to rolling if you are capable.
Can everybody use a back roller?
For many people using a roller is just not possible. They may be too frail, injured, or too old. It may be too painful, or they may have underlying issues that make using one dangerous. This is one of the main reasons that chiropractors don’t recommend rolling to everybody. The other, more probable reason is that people simply are unlikely to do it. Statistically, less than five percent of people will actually perform this (or slightly more if I literally give them a roller).
It is also not the only thing that can help. Neck supports, lumbar supports, home traction units, home stretches, nutritional supplements, icing, ergonomics coaching and a million other things are possible recommendations.
The biggest results come from the adjustments, by far.
How does the adjustment help?
The best way to understand what a chiropractor does is to listen to my audio lecture called Healing 101.
/