I'm not someone with any serious spinal injury, the only thing wrong with my back is a mild case of scoliosis, an old third degree burn in the small of my back and a job that involves lots of lifting, carrying, bending, pushing and pulling. I work in a cold store for a food distributor. I try and lift things properly but frequently come home aching, sore and twisted by muscles that have knotted up or slipped out of place or something.
I was having a moan about it to a friend recently when her flatmate overheard us talking and she showed me something called an sos headache which is sort of a rubber bowl with a flat bottom and knobbly bits at one end. She said that she used it to help her relax and to treat her migraine headaches but that it was also good for manipulating your own back muscles.
I tried it out up against the back of the armchair and after a bit of experimenting I started working the knobbly bits into the muscles that were sore, it works really well. Because you can use it as hard or as soft as you need and work it right into the spots that have knotted up you can actually get all of your back feeling nice and loose and comfortable. By the time I was finished I felt like i'd had a really good massage but i'd done it for myself! Exellent!
I sent off to get one of my own via the internet and have now been using it whenever I need to.
It's also saved me heaps of money that would have gone into a chiropractor's pocket.

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stuart