Foam rollers for self myofascial release

[galapogos]

Hi,

I've been having some pain in my right upper butt close to my tailbone. It hurts in certain angles, for example when I stand on my right leg and try to bend forward, but it doesn't hurt when I try it on the other leg. Go figure...

Anyway, I've been reading up on SMFR with foam rollers and I thought maybe I'd give it a try since the rollers are pretty cheap anyway.

However, I'd like to know what the differences between the rollers are. There are the plain white foam rollers, and then there're the high density ones for advanced users. I'm wondering how long these things last, how's the traction(I'll be perfoming the exercises on a wooden floor w/o a mat, and somehow I get the feeling that foam will just slide around rather than roll), and what are the different lengths(1' and 3') for?

Any ideas? Thanks!

[Dinotrainer]

I've had some success using the techniques learned from this book, and using just a tennis and/or lacrosse ball http://www.triggerpointbook.com/

[galapogos]

Thanks! I've actually googled around and found that the tennis ball is an acceptable substitute, and I tried it yesterday for a few minutes and it really does work. Except it really hurts when I'm starting to roll it around since the contact area is much smaller than a foam roller I'd expect. Also it's kinda hard to roll around since it's so small.