How to Choose the Best Shoulder Massager
Table of Contents
Massaging is being practiced for several hundreds of years now. In the present situation, there are more than 80 varied styles of massage therapies for varied techniques, pressure and movements. However, all of them are associated with manipulating, pressing or running muscles or soft tissues using elbows, forearms, hands, fingers and even foot.
Studies show that at least one in every adult would have got a massage at least once in the previous year in the United States alone. But, rather than hitting a massage spa for a simple shoulder massage every time, having a shoulder massager handy in the home will be of great help to everyone.
Each one of us irrespective of the type of job we are engaged in needs a shoulder massage at least at some point of time in our lives. Of course, it does not mean that you will get shoulder pain at least once in your life. But, it does mean that the tightness in the shoulders created by heavy pressure or stress at work can be relieved with the help of the right shoulder massager.
Now, you might be interested in knowing the benefits of shoulder massaging.
A shoulder massage can help in different ways like helping with relaxation, stress relief, relieving tight muscles and achieving post-injury wellness. With a shoulder massage, you can get benefits like improved posture, injury prevention, improved circulation, and decreased pain.
Now, with these things known about the benefits and effectiveness of shoulder massage, you might be interested in having a shoulder massager right in your home.
Here are the points you will have to consider in the process of shopping for the right massager:
Battery-operated massagers use a battery, as the name implies as the primary source of power. This is a very good facility as it improves the portability of the shoulder massager. Most of the battery-operated massagers use lithium batteries as the source of power. At times, the batteries can last for a maximum of three hours.
However, most of them can withstand power for about two hours of use. Most units would have been designed in such a way that they do not consume more battery when some specific features are used. Most manufacturers do not use changeable batteries in their massagers. Also, the good thing here is that you can use the massager when it is being charged.
This type of shoulder massager will not have a battery. So, you will have no other option other than plugging it into a power outlet to make them work. Some of them come with a longer power cord to ensure easy usability. On the other hand, some have shorter cords. The portability of the massager is greatly affected by the length of the power cord.
Some of them are designed to work with car adapters to make sure that you can get a relaxing shoulder massage when you drive. This is a great feature if you are a person, who drives a lot. For instance, those driving trucks and RVs will benefit from this functionality.
Not all shoulder massagers use the same massaging techniques to relax your shoulders. So, before you shop for a massager, it would be a good idea to understand the massaging technique used by the massagers so that you can select a suitable option for you:
In general, when a massaging technician does this massaging, he/she will use the thumbs, fingers, and palms by rolling them over specific pressure points. As this technique helps with promoting muscle relaxation and relief, it is a popular technique. For this massage, shoulder massagers use massage nodes. They rotate around their axis for producing the massage. The nodes are not perfectly aligned. So, every time they rotate, they work on different muscles. So, they will help with relieving your shoulder and neck muscles.
When it comes to treating tight muscles, you can go for a shoulder massager that can offer kneading massage. This massage is done by pressing the soft tissues like the skin and the muscles against hard surfaces of the bones. It will help with improving blood circulation locally. It means that the tissues will get more oxygen, thereby making this technique the best choice for those with muscle and joint aches.
Vibration massage techniques are widely used by massage chairs. However, some shoulder massagers also use this technology. This type of massage is known for its effectiveness in stimulating the blood flow, thereby relaxing the underlying muscles. In turn, it will bring a state of relaxation and even it is also known for its pain-relieving properties. This becomes possible by loosening your muscles.
If you are a person frequently traveling, you should check this before you shop for a shoulder massager. One of the factors that decide the portability of a shoulder massager is the source of power. The ones with short power-cords in corded massagers do not have any portability. On the other hand, if a massager has a long power cord, it will provide the benefit of restricted portability.
Moreover, cordless variants will bring you to complete portability. However, you can use them for a maximum of three hours only after a complete recharge. So, you should decide on this purely on the basis of your requirements and interest.
You might think where does heat therapy gets into the picture in shoulder massagers. The thing to remember here is that heat will warm up your muscles. With heat therapy in a massager, you will get a similar effect as you would when you stretch your muscles before a training session. Since your muscles get warmer, they become flexible enough to stretch. So, the massager with heat therapy will help with relieving knots in your muscles.
Further, the heated massage will help with improving blood circulation. This will help more blood to reach your muscles. It means that there will be an increase in the amount of oxygen transported to the muscles. In turn, the muscles will feel more relaxed.
Also, the heat massage will help with bringing down inflammation and increases immunity. However, when you choose a shoulder massager with heat functionality, you will have to remember certain things:
The size of the shoulder massager is yet another important factor to consider when deciding on the right unit.
You can decide whether a shoulder massager will be versatile based on the number of massage nodes. Not just the number of massage nodes, the way in which they are distributed also plays a major role in deciding the versatility of the massager. Just in case you choose a pillow-type shoulder massager with more massage nodes, it will help with massaging larger parts of the body like legs, hips, and back.
On the other hand, if you choose a massager with fewer nodes that are evenly distributed on both sides of the strip, it will do a better job for massaging your neck and shoulder from varied angles.
In general, shoulder massage pillows come with handles that permit you to keep the unit in the same place for a longer time. Even, you will come across models that come with handles having hand pockets.
The good thing about choosing a shoulder massager with hand pockets is that you can move your hands without fearing the changing position of the unit. This will be of great help if you are a person interested in using a shoulder massager when you are working in front of a computer.
A shoulder massager purchased after considering the features mentioned above will help you get the best benefits undoubtedly!
This post was last modified on November 29, 2020 12:31 pm