My back hurts. Every day.

Full disclosure, this has been the case since I was injured at work when I was 17 (got run over, super fun stuff, definitely ask me about it), but I think I can pretty confidently say that swinging a boom pole with an audio bag strapped to my chest, moving boxes and carts around, and otherwise being awesome- hasn’t helped the cause.

Having spent 50% of my life dealing with back and neck pains, physical therapists’ fun little lists of exercises [that they printed out from google 5 minutes before I got there] and a lot of trial and error, I’ve put together here some of my favorite finds. Starting with…

#1 The Holy Grail

This thing. It’s like a wave shaped piece of hard foam with a cushion on it that lets your neck and spine relax. That’s it. It comes with directions which are super easy to follow. Lay down, put your arms this way, set a timer for ten minutes. At home. Best of all- it’s cheap. 20 bucks, and it’s legitimately the most effective thing I’ve used. This little piece of foam has done more for me than 50 trips to a chiropractor, or yoga studio, or countless bottles of Advil ever have, AND there’s the silver lining of not having to deal with a crippling dependence on painkillers! (Thanks, doc.)

#2 Clay Ball Sauna

If you’re in LA there’s a handful of these around town, otherwise you might have to do some searching. The pit is about 6 inches deep and filled with small clay balls, and the room is kept around 120-130F. If it’s muscle pain that you’ve got (maybe on that one side of your neck that you’re always turning towards while holding the boom?) then this is what you need. It works so well that I’ve ordered about 20 pounds of these and am currently on version 2 of a little project I’ve got going.

#3 TENS Unit

You’ve probably seen some version of these at drugstores or near the pharmacy in Target, often with marketing about how you can build extreme muscle gainzzz or get perfect abs without doing sit-ups with them. Unfortunately, there’s no actual evidence that they work for that, though it definitely can leave you feeling like you just got in some reps. Ya hunk.

What it actually does fairly well is provide short term joint/muscle pain relief. Those little pads go on the spot that makes you sad and delivers some light shock therapy. What ends up happening is the pain nerves get “tired” and for a while the pain signals that get sent to your brain are dulled down. The downside is that it only lasts for a few hours or a day if you’re lucky, but if you’ve got time you can pretty much use it as much as you want.

A word of Caution: Don’t turn it up high until you’re familiar with it, and never, ever put it on your head. There’s a similar thing out there that’s supposed to help with depression, but it’s not the same thing and you can absolutely hurt yourself playing around with these.

#4 Portable Massager, Sharper Image

Like with TENS, there’s about a million versions of these things out there. From the oversized athletic kind to the dollar store store brand. There’s even these modular ones that give you the leverage you need so you don’t have to ask your pals for a hand.

I went with the Sharper Image one since they have pretty consistently kept their quality level high over the years. From what I’ve read online, the off brand versions will save you a couple bucks, yes, but don’t have the same battery life (I’ve charged it maybe 3 times in the last year) and don’t have as much power behind them. And for how small this thing is, you’ll be surprised at how much power it’s got.

#5 BoomMate Boom Pole Holder

This thing is everything my Auray version wishes it could be. And honestly, when we’re mixing, this is the closest we should be to holding up a boom anyway (aka if you’re producing, hiring a dedicated boom op is just as important as hiring an AC. It takes two hands to do either job effectively.) It’s lightweight, sturdy, and folds down neatly onto the stand. If you can hire a boom op, great, I suggest my buddy Brice. If not, this is the way to go. I can’t even imagine what’s happening to someone’s spine when trying to balance a boom on their head to free up the other one to “mix”.

Aside from being a quality product, it’s also made by a Sound Mixer- Martyn Truman. I got one of these from him recently and after the first day of using it I tossed the cheap one I was using in the closet somewhere. You can definitely tell that it was made by someone who knew from experience what would make our lives easier. Thanks again Martyn!

Have something you’d recommend? Let me know and I’ll give it a shot and maybe add it to the list. I’ll try anything for a day or two of relief. And I mean anything.