Favorite items for sore muscles

This entry will be simple. I just want to tell you guys what I do for my soreness and tight muscles.

Meet my torture devices!

Foam Roller: My first encounter with a foam roller was through Studio Veena. When she introduced her foam rolling lessons, I knew I had to have one. It arrived quickly and the agony began. This thing hurts so good! My purple one is fairly firm, but when I tried reaching the deeper muscles, it wasn't cutting it, so I purchased the black rock from my physical therapist, whom also suggested foam rolling, and showed me a few massages with it that targeted my needs. Using the extra firm foam roller has definitely helped my pain from me having piriformis syndrome. I sit a lot, so my hips have become very very tight over the years. Foam rolling is slowly helping them ease up. It can press those deep muscles. I'm sure I look like a weirdo using it, but who cares?!

Tennis ball: In addition to the foam roller, my physical therapist told me to start rubbing out certain muscles with a tennis ball and the wall. In particular, she wanted me to do my rotator cuff, my hip, along my upper spine, and my middle trapezius. Let me tell you, the tennis ball hurts if your muscles are knotted, like mine. I have to go lighter with the tennis ball than I do with my foam roller. The tennis ball has an advantage over the foam roller in that you can keep it with you all the time. I carry mine in my purse, for portability, and to hide it from my dog. I originally hid the ball from my dog on my nightstand, but he found it, so I had to steal it back and hid it from him again. I saw him eyeing my purse the other day, so who knows how long it will stay hidden.

My ball thief waiting for his ball...                                  

Body Back Buddy: So, I fully admit, this thing looks like some weird torture device, and in a sense, it is. I am always wanting a back rub, more-so than my partner can provide, so my mother recommended this. I also saw a similar one at my massage therapists parlor, so I figured, heck, I'll try it. This thing is AMAZING! It has several nubs in different configurations for different areas. It even has pointy nobs to mimic elbows digging into your muscles. I love this thing. It has been really key in rubbing out the tension in my neck and upper back/shoulder area. It is an easy way to rub areas that are hard to rub yourself, like between your neck and shoulders. I sit in front of the TV and dig in. The little protrusions help you get even more leverage.

Scented bath salts/hot bath: I think this one is fairly obvious, but I figured I'd include it anyways. I love hot baths, hot tubbing, etc. I like water HOT, probably too hot, but I really do not care. I am also a big lover of essential oils, so I figured I'd try some bath salts and see how that went. Well...meeeeeelt! I haven't really tried it enough when I'm super sore, but I hear that Epsom salt baths are good for sore muscles. I recently found sites online where you can make your own bath salts with Epsom salt, coarse sea salt, essential oils, and jojoba oil. I will definitely be doing that when I run out of my current salts. I prefer being able to make my own scents, rather than picking from the items offered in the store...lavender sandalwood, you will be mine!