How to Massage Your Own Back

The setup

The knot is always in the one spot you can't reach: just inside the shoulder blade, where your hand bends the wrong way. Couples solve this with a nightly favor. You solve it with physics.

Why it's hard alone

You can't press and relax at the same time. Reaching behind yourself tenses exactly the muscles you're trying to loosen, and your arms don't bend toward the middle of your back. So the trick is to let something else push while you lean.

The solo method

1. Get a ball. A tennis ball for gentle, a lacrosse ball for firm.
2. Use a wall, not the floor. Standing against a wall lets you control the pressure by how much you lean. The floor is more intense; work up to it.
3. Find the spot, then stop moving. Roll until you hit the knot, then hold still for 30–90 seconds and breathe out slowly. Steady pressure often does more than rolling.
4. Stay off the spine. Work the muscle on either side of it, never on the bones themselves. Same for the shoulder blade's edge.
5. Use a towel for the hard-to-reach band. Put two tennis balls in a sock (one on each side of the spine), or drape a towel over a shoulder and pull down on both ends to press the ball in.
6. Finish with heat. A warm shower or heating pad after loosens what you just worked on.

Pain that's sharp, spreading or getting worse isn't a knot. See a doctor.

What nobody tells you

More pressure isn't better. If you're holding your breath, you're pressing too hard and the muscle will tense against you. Ease off until you can breathe normally.