Trigger Point Performance TP-Factor Extra-Firm Massage Ball

This worked great on an issue I was having with a strained TFL. The key to using "ball therapy" is to slowly maneuver the ball into the troubled area and SLOWLY try to breathe and relax the area while the pressure from the ball sinks into the troubled spot to press out any pinned up congestion in the area and to promote healing circulation. Sometimes you have to limit the amount of weight you exert onto the ball (if it is under you) so that you can relax the body around the ball and then gradually release the weight so that the ball has full compression on the affected area. This method actually provided relief a hip area that had suffered from a strain for 2 years!! Hope this helps!

This ball is about the size of a tennis ball but much harder. It seems as if it will last longer without getting soft. I am a long time Denver based professional massage therapist who needs to be able to work sore muscles & trigger points with something hard like this. It is not for beginners, however! If you do not have some experience with deep tissue massage or some other deep therapy then it may be best to start out with tennis balls which are softer, then work your way up to something heavy duty like this product. I use this on my back, shoulders & hips. I lay on my back with the ball(s) right beside my spine on both sides if you have two balls. Start just below the neck and work your the balls down on each side of your spine an inch at a time. You can adjust the pressure of the balls by bending your knees up and raising your hips up off the floor so as to bring more of your body's weight on the balls and thus make for a deeper penetration. As you get toward the lower back you can increase pressure by curling your legs up onto the abdomen. This puts more weight on the balls when they are under your lower back. Then I lay on my side and slowly move the balls up the side of my ribcage rolling them under me as I move my body. When I get up to my shoulder blade/arm pit area I roll them slowly back and forth over the blades so as to nail those pesky trigger points. For the hips, just sit on the ball on the floor and move around to get the ball in different sore spots. I hope this description helps you find some relief. Use your imagination to find ways to get at your sore spots. In general, this is a good product though quite expensive compared to alternatives. At Petco they have a hard rubber ball for playing with your dog. Squeeze it and there is very little give. Its very hard to endure dog chewing during play. This can be a substitute as can Joe's LaCrosse balls found on Amazon. Both are very hard and about the same size as this product but 1/4 the price. Good Luck! Write me here if you have questions.

People who looked at this product - TP ball - might have sore or tight muscle and pain, including myself. They might have used foam roller, tennis ball and lacrosse ball to release those muscles. Lacrosse ball is most similar one, so can be a competitor, alternative product against this product. Now I have both of them, thus my review is about comparison between two. Let me go straight to the most important point. I feel that they have same effectiveness as a massager, trigger point releaser. Hardness is almost same. I even thought that it might be a lacrosse ball inside. LACROSSE BALL DOES SAME JOB. So, what are advantages? First, the clothing enclosure. When using lacrosse ball on bare skin, it is sometimes annoying because of friction and heat between rubber and skin, hair. But TP ball has comfortable texture when brushed against skin. You may put a lacrosse ball inside a sock to obtain similar result. Second, design. It might sound awkward;why design matters for medical purpose? Well, I don't know.. But I felt more comfortable with TP ball at places other than home. I guess that TP ball is made for therapy use, and a lacrosse ball is not.. Individuals can think differently on this. Other info? It is not perfect sphere. A focal point of clothing is a little bit obtruded. Some might not like;others might because one can use this as a rest point to focus on muscle knots. Definitely, it does not have cost-effectiveness at all (pricey!) I paid a lot for small convenience. But if you want other than a lacrosse ball, you don't have many choices.

Big disappointment. Does not keep its shape. Outer material slips on clothing.

A must have for anyone with plantar fasciitis. This is especially helpful after any exercise that is demanding on the feet. I use this after running, ballet and barre classes, or when I need a deep massage for my feet. This is also great for kneading out tight muscles in the lower back and the hip area, by placing the ball on these areas and rolling onto it. Also, I bought this extra-firm ball for my friend who recently came out of foot surgery and the physical therapist had recommended to use a tennis ball for massaging the plantar fascia. The tennis ball was inefficient and kept rolling out of her foot. But this extra firm Trigger Point worked a miracle on her foot and helped relieve her pain in her foot and kneaded out the tightness. The official website for Trigger Point (www.tptherapy.com) has great information on the use and benefits of this new ball.

Good quality, however, its much smaller than anticipated

These are not spherical. They're sort of oval. It's pretty annoying trying to roll out my feet with a non-spherical ball since it limits the direction you can easily roll it. Seems it deforms a bit over time from use, but since it's oval to begin with, the deformation makes it more and more oval. I've tried to deform it towards a sphere but it's pretty hard and has very very little give. Sort of like a billard ball wrapped in woven cloth. Seems harder than the green one. Comparable in size to those stress balls that are given away as advertising freebies (a little larger than a tennis ball). About the same size as the Yoga Tuneup Plus balls. These are better for foot massage than solid rubber balls (like the Pinky or Yoga Tuneup balls), which build up too much elasticity when compressing with a lot of weight (it wants to spring out from underfoot). But since the core is hard, this doesn't build up elasticity as you crush it, instead it increases the force (and eventually pain if you were to stand on it) on your foot.

One of the few orthopedic devices that belongs in a yoga room at the side 100% of the time. These are invaluable. I use them multiple times a week, have them in my bedroom, and have been using them for months. If you feel a relationship with muscle massage / meridian / trigger point (i.e., acupressure sort of thing) as I do, then maybe, like me, you'll find that the hefty resiliency of these balls - very, very firm but with a touch of yield, and exactly the right texture, weight and size - make a big difference. I have discovered numerous spontaneous positions in which to use these. Mostly I use them in pairs of two with the sleeve lying on my back (in conjunction with that WadFitters rolling thing). But, I also lean on my side under my shoulder blades using one of them, put them behind my neck, and just roll one of them around. I have two of them in my bedroom and sometimes put them in their sleeve under the pillow under my neck or head, and sometimes under my lumbar area. Like I say, these are a basic piece of orthopedic equipment. I have mine always at hand. Five stars.