Can I foam roll too much? Can I use my Theracane too much? Dr. Lou’s answers from Portland, Maine.

Can I foam roll too much?

Is this too much Theracane?

Foam rollers and Theracanes (Watch this Theracane video!) are fantastic for tenderizing your muscles, reducing inflammation, reducing adhesions, improving blood flow and promotion of healing. Like with many things, too much is not always a good thing.

You can cause tissue damage if you over do it. Typically, there are warning signs of using a foam roller to much or over using the Theracane. Feeling bruised, seeing bruising or experiencing physical weakness in the area is a sign to take a break and give your muscles a chance to heal. Sometimes taking a break will actually speed up the process and get you where you want to be sooner.

Making mistakes with foam rolling will potentially lead to more issues. It’s often a bad idea to use a foam roller directly on the injured body part. It’s a bad idea to roll too quickly! Careless rolling is more likely to cause harm. Speed and connective tissue aren’t a good mix, you should roll slowly. Fast rolling doesn’t relax tissue like foam rolling does.

With a Theracane, it’s important that you not push too hard, you don’t apply pressure for too long, and you don’t assume that more is better and that healing is better with the “no pain, no gain” principle. 30 second to 60 second intervals of pressure on a trigger point with no more than 3 repetitions, is a good start. Don’t push so hard that it’s excruciating, just enough pressure to feel a deep, achy discomfort that hurts but feels good at the same time.

Both the Theracane and the foam roller are incredible tools to use at home for many common muscular and soft tissue complaints. In fact, these two items are in my top 3 list of most valuable tools to have at home for back pain.

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