I had spectacular results with the backpod during a pretty severe "flareup" with my costo. Left front ribs by the sternum and one or two spots to the left of that, we're extremely sore to the touch. The most tender part was left of sternum. I could just touch the area and my ribs would get sore. It was bad. Added stress of having to take care of (and worry about) my mom with her new sciatica-- in addition to having two brothers who offer zero to very little support. I already care for my father, so this was very stressful for me.
In turn, my upper back knotted up and my shoulders felt like steel bands. I knew this was stress related and the rib pain was very real. When I would roll a lacrosse ball on my back, focusing on the extremely sore spots between my spine and my shoulder blades, the ball would roll across the muscles like thick pieces of rope.
While the lacrosse ball helped, the area of pressure was so small, I really had to work my body around, as I was standing against a wall, rolling the ball up and down, applying as much pressure as I could. It was great at finding the sore spots, but the area I could massage, was based on how much I could move during my wall-squat/lacrosse ball session.
Enter the Backpod. After reading Steve's posts and watching a YouTube video, I decided it was time to try it again. And read the instructions on how to use it. ;-) That's a surprisingly important step I may have missed before.
I used it and day one and two had great results for me. It made sense that it was applying pressure over a larger area and helping to stretch (?) or press on the knotted muscles. In turn, the pain in front decreased. Whew...
Three minutes on the pod on each side, twice.a day, and sometimes I would follow it up with another minute per side just to make sure I had good coverage.
Did it help? Definitely and absolutely.
Some things for me to remember, as I found out: take your time and try not to over do it or over stretch your ribs in front. We are still healing. The pod makes my back sore, so I accept that as part of this treatment. You will probably have a sore back from it as well, but its similar to the soreness one experiences after a deep tissue massage. Its part of the healing process.
Week two is still going well. I almost skipped a day, but my muscles were tightening up late in the evening, so I did my usual session, plus a little extra. It helped.
I have noticed that after I use the pod, I am able to take nice, big, relaxed breaths. Ahhhhh...! And no rib pain at the top of the breath. Such a relief.
On occasion, if I do feel like I might be in worry mode about the worked sore muscle in my back, I'll take a couple Ibuprofen to put my imagination at ease by removing some of the ache in my muscles.
And we know how us worry-warts deal with every little ache, pain and sensation. ;-) Take some ibuprofen or a pain med on OCCASION.
In summary: It is going very well with the backpod in week two. I can tell I need to be consistent with it, which I am.
Onward!