What they are, why they work, how to use them, and
5 key things to look for when buying massage therapy balls.
As powerful as massage balls are, it’s most likely an ancient device because many ancient cultures used smooth heated or chilled stones in massage. Imagine two smooth warm river stones placed on your lower back by the village shaman. It’s not too far-fetched to think the massage ball is thousands of years old, is it?
But today, if you’re shopping for massage balls, it’s a whole lot more complicated because they come in every size and shape imaginable and we use fancy words like ‘mobility balls’, ‘myofascial release balls’, ‘yoga balls’ or ‘physical therapy balls’ — which all mean exactly the same thing. With this guide, I can spare you the effort and expense from having to try them all. The straight story is that most of the manufacturers are using gimmicks to sell you plastic that won’t be as useful as the balls you can pick up in sporting goods or toy stores.
If you look at the average massage ball and ask yourself “why is it like that?”, you’ll find most of the time it’s lightweight to make it inexpensive to produce and ship, it’s going to have bumps or knobs which make it patentable and allow the marketer to spin a “secret sauce” story to persuade you to buy it. None of this has anything to do with your body’s needs.
Massage balls really are very special and have unique benefits.
In spite of all the marketing gimmicks, massage balls are far more effective at isolating problem areas in your body and enabling you to make permanent changes that increase your flexibility and eliminate pain. They allow you to do your own deep tissue massage approximating the pressure you could expect from a massage therapist’s palm or elbow.
Top physical therapists, massage therapists and athletes all use massage balls for their own self-care and most use lacrosse balls for massage.
Massage balls are so effective they can even prevent risky surgeries. I don’t want to over dramatize this but it’s a known fact that back surgeries sometimes result in death or a lifetime of debilitating pain.
How to choose between massage ball options
What matters most is your ability to position a massage ball and control the movement to apply pressure on specific body parts. The factors that determine whether you’ve got the right massage ball for your need are size, weight, shape, grip and hardness. Let’s go over them one at a time.
Size – you want to select the size based on the body part you’re working.
Hands, forearms or feet – you’ll want to try golf ball and lacrosse ball sizes. For the technically minded, the golf ball has a diameter of 42.7 mm and the lacrosse ball’s diameter is 63 mm. Lacrosse ball set on Amazon here.
Calves, hamstrings, abdomen/psoas, buttocks, upper and lower back, deltoids and neck – the lacrosse ball, tennis ball and baseball sizes work best for these body parts. Their diameters respectively are 63 mm, 67 mm and 73mm.
Chest and shoulders – here you need a 4 inch diameter ball (or about 100 mm) which is an unusual size. The picture on the right, shows the large massage balls we launched on Kickstarter in the summer of 2017. On Amazon here.
Weight – the heavier the ball the more likely it is to stay where you put it. We manufacture all of our massage balls with the maximum weight possible for this reason even though it increases the cost significantly. So, solid balls are preferable to hollow or inflatable because of their greater weight. The solid balls also deform more predictably when you put your weight on them.
Shape – it’s important to use a smooth round ball so you can control its movement precisely when you roll on it. I’ve seen marketing pictures of people holding a massage ball in their hand and pressing it on their body which is pure fantasy. If you’re not using your body weight to apply pressure on the massage ball, you’re wasting your time. So forget about spikes and bumps on the ball — as cool and interesting as they look, they’re just gimmicks. The one possible exception – if you’re sweaty from a workout, small bumps might improve the grip.
Some may say you need protrusions to dig into a tweaked muscle or tendon but, all of my tweaks and injuries have always been resolved easily with smooth round balls. In addition to getting better control over the movement with a smooth ball, you can also cover more territory faster and more easily.
Remember that the best way to treat a tweaked muscle or tendon is to work around it, not directly on the tweak. You want to go after the attachment points and stretch surrounding areas to relieve the pressure on whatever is causing you pain. That’s why ‘digging in’ doesn’t carry much water.
Finally, for those that bruise easily, even the dimples on a dimpled baseball can damage skin tissue. So one more reason to go smooth.
Grip – a great massage ball has good grip and won’t slide easily against a wood floor, wall or your skin. This makes it easier to control the movement and prevents the ball slipping out from under you or falling if you’re using it against the wall. The tennis ball is a reasonably good massage ball except for its lousy grip – it slides around too easily. The best grip you’ll find comes from the natural rubber used in making lacrosse balls.
Hardness – there is no perfect massage ball hardness as each body part will respond best to a different hardness. Also, as the health and flexibility of your tissues improves, you’ll want to use harder massage balls over time.
Injured tissues will always need softer massage balls. In manufacturing, hardness is measured with an instrument called a durometer typically on the Shore scale. The lacrosse ball, for example, has a Shore C hardness of 60. Our softest massage ball gets measured on a different scale specific for foams and has a hardness of Shore A 40.
It’s worth mentioning that the hardness is not the only characteristic that determines how the ball deforms under your body, as a hollow and solid ball can both have the same hardness, but they will feel different. Hollow balls like hockey balls can work reasonably well and I’ve used them for long periods of time myself even if I now prefer the heavier solid balls we manufacture.
What about hot and cold massage balls?
First let’s talk about cold — it’s helpful for stimulating blood flow and reducing inflammation. As such, cold definitely has its place in the physical therapy tool bag. But a cold massage ball doesn’t make a lot of sense in my opinion. Here’s why – a massage ball is a great deep tissue tool which when done properly is about stretching. The whole point behind using a ball is that you penetrate deep into the belly of the muscle or tendon which stretches it restoring flexibility where fibers have tightened. Would you ever chill your muscles before a stretching routine? You might, if you wanted to get injured.
So you can see why a heated massage ball makes a lot more sense. But, let me make a prediction. If you were to buy a massage tool that could be heated, you’d try it once or twice and then would use it without heat thereafter. Who has enough spare time for heating a massage tool when the heat will dissipate in a couple of minutes? It’s a nifty idea, but personally I’m into simplicity and practical tools. If I need heat, a heating pad makes a lot more sense to me.
How to use massage balls for myofascial release
Conclusion
Now that’s the straight dope on massage balls! Look for heavy, smooth, round balls with good grip and get them in a variety of hardnesses and sizes like the ones we offer in our Deep Tissue Massage Ball Set, found here on Amazon. My favorite is our green 70 mm FIRM ball.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the best massage balls for back pain?
A: my personal preference is to use the green Firm massage ball shown in the picture for my upper back and the yellow Extra Firm oversized lacrosse ball on my lower back. Sometimes if I have a tight knot that needs working out I’ll use the orange lacrosse balls because they penetrate better. Note that if you have an injury or long-standing pain, you’ll need to start with something like our blue Soft massage ball and work your way up slowly to the harder balls.
Q: What are the best foot massage balls?
A: It’s really hard to beat the lacrosse ball for foot massage! However, when you first start out you may want something a little larger and softer. If you have very specific knots or substantial scar tissue, you may want to try using golf balls for even better penetration and targeting then you’ll get with lacrosse balls.
Q: What are trigger point massage balls?
A: Trigger points are specific spots in your body that give you a lot of trouble and may cause pain in other distant but related locations. Any massage ball that is the right size to isolate and penetrate a trigger point can be thought of as a trigger point massage ball. Usually that will be a smaller ball like a golf ball or lacrosse ball. The concept of a ball with knobs seems good in theory, but in practice, with knobs you lose some control over the movement and positioning of the ball, so stick with smooth massage balls.
So I noticed you mentioned golf balls, tennis balls and lacrosse balls in relation to size but can they actually be used for massaging as opposed to buying specific “massage balls?” Especially when it comes to lower back pain?
Yes, though they will be too hard for many people…
Thank you! This was very helpful. I´m starting out with the next best tennis ball-ish type ball I could find near me but this is really helpful, now I know what I´ll be looking for in a massage ball in the future. Also great that you debunked the specially labelled massage ball.. Great article.
I´ve had tension and pain in my back for a long time, now that I work out too (pilates, hiit and conditioning exercises style workouts, no weights) it´s partially better but then again sometimes even worse in other spots. It´s a little hard to find a balance sometimes between rest and movement. Either way every and any kind of tip can make a huge difference.
I go to massage therapy once a month, and when I feel is right yoga also though if not careful enough that can also lead to pain. Cold showers help too.
Do you have any other helpful tips perhaps? Nowadays the pain is mainly in the hip and sacrum area, SI joint and the gluteus medius and surrounding area are tight. Before I started exercising it used to be more in the neck, shoulders and upper back.
Most recently even the knees started acting up, but it quickly went away with rest and cold showers. Do you know how to prevent that kind of accumulation of tension and stress to muscle and joints? I know that imbalances can create this sort of tension, but how do I strengthen these points to stop that I´m not sure about yet.
Hi Luisa, there are lots of other general health related strategies – what is your diet like? Have you ever had a hair mineral test done? That can pinpoint any mineral imbalances for you…
Hi, thanks for this informative article.
I’m looking for softer balls, preferably inflatable for the pelvic area. I suffer from severe pelvic floor dysfunction; my muscles are very tight. What can you you recommend?
Hi, have you tried our Very Soft massage balls? Sometimes a toy store might be the best place to look… It is difficult to make massage balls that are very soft and not many people do it because the market is tiny.
Massage balls are good for persistent back pain and muscle knots. They are ideal for self-treatment of knots, but having severe, chronic trigger points is myofascial pain syndrome. It’s best to consult a doctor for that.
Consultant MD at your own risk because medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the USA, yes that’s DEATH. I’d suggest googling fibromyalgia FSM instead…
Hi. Which balls would be best for the neck?
Hi Terri, most people find that our orange lacrosse balls work best with the Neck Track. If you are very sensitive you may wish to use our larger green or blue balls. If you have a very narrow neck you may also find the larger balls work better for you (blue, green, gray or yellow depending on the hardness you want – the yellow is the same hardness as the orange).
Hi.nany recommendations for shoulder area. Have courting tendinitis in shoulder.
Yes, our 4 inch balls are very good for shoulders: https://deeprecovery.com/product/deep-tissue-massage-balls-4-inch-set-2
Hi I have round shoulders and forward head, I want to address this issue what size do I need and how many?? Please and thank you for your time
Hi Ann, this is a pretty challenging change to make – you will want to do strengthening exercises on your rhomboid and myofascial release on the chest and shoulders and for that our 4 inch massage ball is very good…
Hello I have trigger points in my peck area, can you advise on a good size to order ? I didn’t see that area covered on the video . Thank you
Hi Nicole, you want the 4 IN striped balls found here: https://deeprecovery.com/products/
Thank you !!
‘Hands, forearms or feet – you’ll want to try golf ball and lacrosse ball sizes. For the technically minded, the golf ball has a diameter of 42.7 mm and the lacrosse ball’s diameter is 63 mm.’
I am trying to understand how one recommend at the same time the balls so different, with a difference of 20 mm?! Can you please be more specific and clear on this?
Well, every person is unique and so is every situation or injury, so it really is impossible to prescribe one single tool that works all the time for everyone. There is a lot of experimentation needed to learn what works for you in what situation… The lacrosse ball is a good place to start however, I like it because it covers more ground being larger.
In the pictures the balls are being used on things that hold them in place (yellow track type item and some other thing in the neck picture) – do you sell those?
Hi Mel, we do at http://deeprecovery.com/shop
hi, do you also ship abraod (Europe)? How much would shipping + packing be?
Thank you for yor answer.
Kind regards,
Irene (Germany)
Hi Irene, I do ship worldwide and you can see how much the shipping would be by starting a purchase – you don’t have to finish if it’s too expensive for you.
Generally runs $45-$50 for Europe for the whole body kit.
I will probably run out of stock in the next 30 days and it will be a few months after that before I get new stock.
Warmly,
Eric
Can you tell me which massage ball would be best for repetitive stress injury on the arm, wrist, and hand? I see that your website talks in depth about this issue, but I don’t see where there is a specific ball for that purpose.thank you very much!
hi Erin, lacrosse balls are phenomenal on the forearms. For the upper arms, you may want something a little softer like our green Firm ball. I don’t use any balls on the hands directly because the elbow massage is so good but I could see using a golf ball on the palm…
I’ve been training for a marathon for the past couple of months. My work outs are really intense, so sometimes I need to find a way to give myself a massage to help loosen up my muscles. It’s good to know how to find a massage ball that will do the trick. The information about finding a massage ball that’s the right size for calves and hamstrings was very informative. I usually get really tight in those areas, so I need a ball that’s the right size to massage away the tight knots out of my legs. It’s good to know that a tennis ball will do the trick.
Can you tell me where I can buy one of these ?
The Massage Track tools will be available for purchase here on this website in March, thanks for asking Adam!
-Eric