Cool Fitness Gadget: Acuball to Relieve Pain

If you have issues with sore muscles or chronic pain, getting some body work like massage or acupressure are wonderful ways to relieve the discomfort. It is also great to be able to get relief at home, and that's exactly what the Acuball System ($60) allows you to do. Using the Acuball, you can massage your neck or face (sinus problems) as well as larger muscle like your hamstrings or shins. Plus you can heat the Acuball and the combination of heat and pressure on aching muscles helps to circulate blood to that area and loosen up muscle fibers, which relieves tension and your pain.

This kit comes with one large Acuball, an Acuball Mini, the Feel It? Heal It! book, and a 60-minute guided DVD. The video will show you specific exercises that utilize these balls. One of my favorites is to lie on your back with the big Acuball on the upper part of your spine, and every 30 seconds or so, you slide the ball down one vertebrate. The weight of your body and the pressure of the ball creates an amazing release of tension in the muscles along each side of your spine. If you don't want to buy the entire kit, you can buy one Acuball ($29.99) instead.