If you’ve ever come home after a hard day at work with your head thumping and your body tense you might have thought at some point or another how much you could really use a massage, but unfortunately there was no one there to help you. I had the same sort of epiphany myself a couple of years back and decided to look into the idea of a massage chair. I wasn’t willing to break the bank so I settled on a basic model for about $600 that only offered massage for the back. While I’ve enjoyed this chair, it’s always seemed to be missing something – let’s face it, there’s a lot more to your body than just the back!
While massage chairs that offer full body massage are not usually available at a price point of around $600 you can still get one at a price that’s manageable for most people. One great option is the Luxury Shiatsu Chair by Ideal Massage. This chair offers a full body massage and is available for purchase at around $1300.
Built-In Heat
There’s something about the combination of a massaging action on your body when it’s accompanied by heat that has the ability to remove a lot of the pain from a stressful day. This chair by Ideal Massage comes with built-in heat to assist your massage and help to remove that stress from your day. You can switch on this feature at the touch of a button and you also have full control of how long it remains on – the massage doesn’t end until you’re ready.
Extended Uninterrupted Massage
My current massage chair, as I’ve already mentioned, only works on the back and it only lasts for a maximum of about 20 minutes which always leaves me feeling a little unsatisfied. This Shiatsu massage chair provides an extended massage of up to 30 minutes and that extra 10 minutes can mean all the difference. You can, of course, simply start it up again once you’re massage ends, but for most people 30 minutes of a full body massage will likely be enough.
Synthetic Hands
One feature that I found particularly interesting about this chair is that it also includes what the manufacturer calls real humanized massage hands. Essentially, there are built-in mechanisms within the chair that actually feel like real hands on your body when they’re massaging you. This is done with a combination of rollers and air bags; it creates a simulated massage that can feel very real. As great as this sounds it’s important to keep in mind that not every customer that has purchased one of these chairs has been entirely convinced with this feature. Some have complained that the overall full body massage is only really effective on your back area and the massaging action on the rest of your body is limited at best.
Intelligent Detect
Massage chairs have really become technological marvels over the last few years and the better ones have something called 3-D intelligent detect technology which allows them to sense which area of the body they’re working on and adjust their technique accordingly. This chair has this technology built in, which is an impressive feature usually found on much more expensive models. The chairs rollers can mimic all of the actions of a professional masseuse.
Quiet Operation
If you ever had the opportunity to sit in a massage chair about 20 years ago you might have noticed how noisy those chairs were – they may have felt great, but everyone around you had to put up with the noise as well. Today’s chairs are generally much quieter, and this one by Ideal Massage is actually designed for peace and quiet as well as a stress removing massage. The chair has a four-wheel driven muted massage function which allows for continuous quiet operation. That means you can enjoy a massage without interrupting the people around you.
Different Options
Sometimes it’s nice to mix things up and this chair has different settings that you can adjust depending on which type of massage you’re looking for. You can choose a rolling sensation which will simply simulate a rolling sensation over your body, a kneading option which imitates fingers kneading at you’re stressed-out body, and a full shiatsu vibration mode which can actually stimulate the dilation of blood vessels, helping to maintain healthy blood flow through the body.
Some Things That Won’t Relax You
Yes, this chair has a lot of good things going for it, especially at its price point, but it does have its fair share of detractors. As we’ve already mentioned above some people aren’t convinced with how well it does at massaging anywhere but your back, but there are some other issues as well. For one thing this chair does not stretch you right out; even though it does place you in a zero gravity position, you’ll still be somewhat bent at the knees. In some customers’ opinions this doesn’t allow you to truly relax and enjoy the experience. Other complaints include the argument that it isn’t a one-size-fits-all chair as it may not be comfortable if you’re a little on the short side height-wise. Also, the neck support has been described as somewhat weak as well.
It Depends on You
For me personally I’m not overly concerned that the chair seems to concentrate on providing your back with the most attention as this is usually the area were most of the pain and stress seems to hang out in my body for some reason. But if you’re a big fan of a foot massage this may not be the chair for you. It does massage other areas of the body – it just doesn’t handle them as well as it does the back. Overall I think it has some great features and if you’re trying to keep your budget in check it’s probably a nice compromise.
