critique of pressure point massager as promised below is a personal critique of a pressure point massager i recently bought from the self care catalog i am very pleased with the results the catalog description is as follows the pressure point massager is an aggressive physical massager that actually kneads the tension out of muscles much like a professional shiatsu masseur the powerful motor drives two counter rotating thumbs that move in one inch orbits releasing tension in the neck back legs and arms pressure point massager a to order or receive a catalog call hours days or fax at note when i ordered the massager the item number was different and the price was not when i received it i glanced thru the newer catalog enclosed with it to see anything was different from the first one i was quite annoyed to see a difference in price i called them about it and the cust rep said that they had switched manufacturers although it looks and works exactly the same he told me to go ahead and return the first one and order the cheaper one using the price difference as a reason for return in fact since the newer ones might take a while to ship from the factory i received this one in days he told me i could use the one i already have until the new one arrives then return the old one very reasonable people i have long term neck shoulder and back pain if i were a building i would be described as structurally unsound i have stretches and exercises to do that help but the problem never really goes away if for whatever reason i do not exercise for a while illness not enough time lazy etc the muscles become quite stiff and painful and thus more prone to further strain even with exercise i sometimes require physical therapy to get back on track which st requires a doctor visit to get the prescription for p t the tension in my neck if not released eventually causes a headache sometimes confused with a sinus headache over my left eye when my physical therapist has massaged my neck and the sub occipital muscles in particular the knobby areas near the base of the skull the headache usually eased within a day although it hurts like hell to while it is being massaged i ordered this device because it seemed to be exactly what i was wishing someone would invent a machine that would massage not vibrate my neck and sub occipital muscles like my physical therapist has done in the past that i could use by myself no doctor visit or inconvenient p t appts for a week later would be needed to use it i could get up in the middle of the night and use it if necessary i have been using it for about a week or so now and love it the base unit is about a x rectangle about high with handles on each side and it plugs into an average outlet the two metal thumbs are about in diameter and protrude about above the base the thumbs are covered with a gray cloth that is non removable they are located more toward one end rather than centered see figure below they move in either clockwise or counter clockwise directions depending on which side of the switch is pushed and are very quiet it can be used from either side for instance the thumbs can be positioned at the base of the neck or the top of the neck depending on which direction you approach it for the neck head the user varies the amount of pressure used by if laying down allowing all or part of the full weight of the head and or neck to rest on the thumbs the handles can also be used if sitting or standing applying pressure with the arms wrists since my wrists are also impaired i m typing this over an extended period of time and i don t have someone living with me who can apply it laying down works well for me for my back i sit in a high backed kitchen chair position the massager behind me at whatever point i want massaged and lean back lightly or not so lightly against it the pressure of leaning back holds it in place if i want to massage the entire spine i simply move it down a few inches whenever i feel like it for my back this machine is far superior to use than the commonly used home made massager of tennis balls taped together with the balls position against a wall or door them over the spine and move the body up and down against them the tennis balls are better than nothing but difficult to use for very long especially if your quads are not in good shape and my long hair gets painfully in the way if i don t pin it up first as far as i m concerned the easier something like this is to use the more likely i ll use do it if there are multiple considerations hassles i m more likely to not bother with it not only has this machine helped with my headaches but my range of motion for my neck and back are greatly increased the first time i used it on my neck sub occipital muscles however i overdid it and pressed too hard against it which resulted in a very tender almost bruised area for a few days i laid off it for about days and applied ice which helped after that i was more gradual about applying pressure at this point the pain in the sub occipital area is now minimal while being massaged i also learned to use very light pressure on my lower back which is the most vulnerable point for me it also eased some painful knots of tension between my shoulder blades although again it took a few days of massaging just a few minutes at a time to really work it out i highly recommend this product if you have similar problems although i cannot vouch for its durability it seems pretty sturdy since i ve had it such a short time i plan to use it not only to ease tension but also to loosen the muscls before exercising and maybe after too i have been ill recently and not able to exercise much for a few weeks so this was very timely for me this is the st product i ve ordered from this company and only recently became aware of it thru a co worker the catalog states they have been in business since it contains quite a few health care products and while they appear to be more expensive than the average health care catalog products they also appear to be of much higher quality with more thought put into what they actually do definitely a step above some other ones i ve seen such as dr leonards health care catalog or mature wisdom i m only but have ended up on some geriatric type mailing lists no big surprise here i consider many of those products to be rip offs particularly targeted toward the elderly with dubious health benefits i apologize for the length of this but it s the kind of info i would like to know before ordering something thru the mail robin coutellier northern telecom mountain view ca internet robin ntmtv com uucp portal ntmtv robin
