Foam rolling has become an extremely common self care technique over the past 10 years and has become a common household object. Self myofascial release or foam rolling is a technique many use to reduce soreness, improve their range of motion, or help warm up the body before exercising.
How it Works
It was previously thought that foam rolling could break up adhesions or trigger points in our muscles. It is now theorized that rolling mostly works on our nervous system to help improve our brain’s ability to allow us to move into positions we are restricted in. It is also thought rolling helps promote descending modulation by which the brain can turn down the pain signal temporarily. Think of this as your brain’s natural pain killers being released in response to the rolling. A simple 30 seconds of rolling is all that is needed.
The benefits
Rolling has shown to improve tissue stiffness up to 20% and increase blood flow to the muscles rolled for up to 30 minutes. Ranges of motion improvements and reduction in pain have also been shown. Additionally, since rolling helps modulate pain through descending inhibition of pain signals an overall relaxation effect may occur. Lastly, it is something you can do on your own when you can’t make it into the clinic!
The bottom Line
Rolling is a very effective means of improving range of motion, feelings of stiffness or pain. However foam rolling is very temporary, and will need to be repeated quite often for the same effect to be reached. If you find yourself having to use a foam roller every single day, or before each workout then consider booking a physiotherapy assessment at For Health’s Sake to get your underlying issues with pain or range motion assessed.
References
Behm, D.G., Wilke, J. Do Self-Myofascial Release Devices Release Myofascia? Rolling Mechanisms: A Narrative Review. Sports Med 49, 1173–1181 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01149-y
Mohr AR, Long BC, Goad CL. Effect of foam rolling and static stretching on passive hip-flexion range of motion. J Sport Rehabil. 2014 Nov;23(4):296-9. doi: 10.1123/jsr.2013-0025. Epub 2014 Jan 21. PMID: 24458506.
By: Elias Peixoto