One thing I find is that a good fascial release but someone doing ART or Graston (or better both) followed up by work at home with a foam roller works best. Also don't roll on the IT band. Roll on the quad and hamstring. ITBS is a compression issue and rolling on the tendon just forces compression, slowing down the healing.

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Ian

Can you explain the "compression issue" a bit more?

Gracias,
G

X2 on the Gua Sha/Graston/Astym in general, but if you need to make things more supple and straight, I really have to suggest a MORE AGGRESSIVE foam roller like the Rumble Roller. Frankly, I got my first Rumble Roller in 2012 during my bout of Achilles Tendonitis. It replaced the Trigger Point Grid. I just laugh at anything now as it is really much more effective IMHO.

The first couple of uses it might be a little aggressive. It is a little rough in the 2 days post Ironman for me, but if you use it religiously you will be much more supple.

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http://exeternhmassage.com/stop-foam-rolling-your-it-band-to-fix-your-knee-pain/

This site seems to do a decent job of explaining things.

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Ian

One of the frustrating things about this sport is all the various methods of reactive recovery techniques. It seems that for every article in the "for" camp there is another article in the "against" camp. It's frustrating to know what's what and finding a good course of action for injury recovery and/or prevention (stretching, rolling, exercises, bike fit, shoe design, orthotics, etc.).

Once again, I'm dealing with PFPS issues. Hence, my reason for asking these questions.

Cheers,
G

Honestly, hard plastic hockey balls from Walmart that cost .99 cents. I think I have 5 of them - at home, at work, in my car, etc


For itbs specifically, you can search this forum extensively on that topic. I battled it for 4 damn years

What worked: deep rolling with the ball into the glutes and hips, combined with determination to have the strongest hips around via attaching a cable to my ankles at the gym and working all angles of leg lifts. It worked

Best of luck

Shouldn't a discussion of facials be in the Lavender Room?

Normally, yes. But TheForge was been banned so .....

I swear by The Ming Method.

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"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC

Why is so much energy spent in fascial release? The fascia merely separates muscles into bundles and isn't very thick and is largely avascular. Seems like a waste of time and energy to me. All those techniques to poke and prod your various fascias can't yield the result that rest and guided loading/stretching of targeted regions can.

PFPS is a compression issue over sustained load over a long period of time so that the subchondral bone begins feeling pain. This can come from a variety of issues such as tight quads, and hip flexors. As well, weak quadriceps and hip extensors (glut max) can contribute to the problem. Physical therapy (in this case stretching and strengthening the implicated areas) is likely to help a great deal. As well, relative rest is required. You can't continue to reproduce your pain and expect that is will resolve. Stop overloading the patellofemoral joint and stop the offending activity before it hurts.

. You haven't revealed much that isn't known or speculated about already.

Best methods for facial release?

I usually just ask.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

You need to ask Duffy.

Some of you guys would be a good fit over at the Pathetic Triathlon Group. (you can make some snowflake's head explode)

Cheers,
G

I haven't revealed anything that isn't already known, but for some reason people perseverate about fascial release as a means for recovery without any real support for it. Let's stick to what is researched and known to work.

As I mentioned before, I am not interested in opinions on pro-stretching versus anti-stretching. Or pro-release versus anti-release techniques (fellow perverts have fun with this one), and neither should you. Reason being, it's fruitless to say which is better or not, simply because for every single article written there's an article that claims otherwise (many peer-reviewed through some medical site such as, PubMed, etc.).

On the PFPS piece you wrote, there's probably at least a billion descriptive words on the internet (and probably a million of those descriptive words are here on Slowtwitch) describing PFPS. Even less interested in another academic description of PFPS, because arguments about PFPS causation are all over the map.

Here's what I AM interested in and is the premise for my thread: and that is, what has worked for people through their very own empirical experiences?

Here's my empirical experiences with being a "practitioner" of PFPS and PT (jumper's knee): Once you have these overuse injuries they never really completely go away. You have to learn to manage them through various forms of stretching, equipment choice, changes to technique, long periods of rest, etc. People who have experienced these injuries are probably in complete agreement.

Cheers,
G

The original poster said nothing about recovery, and since he mentioned trigger point and ITS one would assume that he is likely focused on mobility and simply opening up some restrictive tissue.
I don't debate you on the fact that fascial release likely doesqueda little in the way of recovery, however fascia being less elastic in nature then the muscle fibers that it is surrounding does often restrict or limit mobility. And if the pressure created by these self massage techniques in the process increases blood flow to the area that is certainly going to aid the recovery process. May not be the facial release directly but there are certainly direct and indirect benefits of facial release.


My favorite tool is a simple lacrosse ball, very acute and target, also has a slightly grippy surface to create a bit of a surface sherring effect if done directly on the skin. Also cheap.

I second the lacrosse ball. Worked very well for me from the feet on up. Just tacky enough it doesn't slide around.

I also had voodoo floss recently on a stubborn calf issue. Immediately relieved. I'm not a educated on it beyond light reading or a proponent for or against, but know that it worked at least one time, on one person (me).