My son-in-law and daughter (known here as Blue_in_CA) have started their own business known as "Bula Ball" based on Riaz's own experiences recovering from chronic back pain and surgery. He was a professional rugby player for several years and suffered several bone-crunching injuries that resulted in severe neck problems and a seriously ruptured disk in his lower back. After his surgery in 2009, he went through physical therapy and worked with rehab specialists who turned him on to self-myofascial release with foam rollers, various sized balls and the theracane. He had such remarkable success with his healing that he devised his own work-out plan and is now marketing it to injured athletes and other sufferers from chronic pain.
When my husband and I were down in Costa Rica visiting the kids last month, we promised Riaz that we would try the program for 90 days and report on our success. I told him that despite his own obvious success, I wouldn't advertise to any of my friends until I could report on my own personal experience and assumed that would be at the end of three months. However, after just 10 days rolling out on the balls, both my husband and I are noticing marked differencees in how we feel, increased range of motion, improved posture, no more popping and clicking in the shoulders, and I've discovered that I have actual abdominal muscles. Surprise!
I would like to invite you to check out their website, watch some of the videos and see if this could possibly work for you. The set comes with a 7" and 5" ball and four excellent instructional DVDs, concentrating on upper back and shoulders, lower back and legs, all-over massage, and stretching. What I really like about this program is that after you learn the "moves," you can do it while watching TV or whatever and you can target your own specific areas of tension.
http://www.bulaball.com/ed. If you are using AVG and get a warning, don't worry about it. It's nothing and the webmaster is working on fixing it.