The Neck Massager, A Perfect Combination Of Massage To Muscles Of The Neck And Exercise To The Neck Joints And Discs

The neck massager provides passive exercise, helping to bring nutrition, relaxation and circulation to the discs, joints and muscles. For relief of pain and restoration of function.

Mechanical massaging devices, often called inter-segmental traction have been used in professional offices for treatment of neck pain. While these machines do not necessarily provide linear traction, they provide motion to the individual segments of the cervical spine and are an effective method to relax a neck stiffness and bring relief to sore neck muscles. A combination using motion along with massage exercises the joints between the neck bones and provides a great benefit for degenerative cervical spine conditions producing stiff joints and muscles associated with neck pain.

As the more professional models have faded over the years, largely due to cost, there has been a trend towards more rotary type massagers. These models are often designed to look pretty and with a more diverse application. In order to obtain this diverse application, the massagers employ rollers which are meant to be applied to various parts of the body, such as the lower back and legs. In order to accomplish this, the rollers which make contact with the body are at a distance to accommodate wider areas associated with the back and legs, being too wide for the smaller neck application.

A Massager Designed Just For The Neck

This neck massager should be used for the neck, upper back and other small areas. It is not meant to be applied to the lower back or larger areas of the body, unless you are holding it by the back, under the strap and massaging someone else. Typical massagers do not properly contact the mid portion of the neck and only reach the outer part of the neck. This leads to a disappointing and ineffective experience for all but the largest of individuals. Additionally, those designed for larger areas of the body can overpower the smaller neck region, causing too forceful of a massage. Instead of lying back and relaxing, one must continuously shift positions to make the right contact with the rollers in order to achieve the desired results. Too much shifting and too much pressure can lead to damage of the structures and cause inflammation, defeating the purpose of this type of therapy.

The Neck Massager is small, lightweight, not overpowering and designed to provide therapy to the neck only. It is minimalist and is really not powerful enough for the deep muscles of the lower back. It is easy to travel with and can be used comfortably in a sitting position in your favorite recliner.

A totally relaxing and therapeutic experience, use the massager for therapy directed at sub-acute as well as chronic neck injuries and arthritic neck conditions where the muscles and joints need a combination of massage and motion for proper long term pain relief and rehabilitation.

What It Is Not

The Neck Massager will not provide “massaging fingers” or “magical massaging hands”; you cannot just lie down and experience a blissful, floating away in the clouds sensation – some things are best left to the professional masseuse, and there is no machine that can duplicate skills of the professional massage therapist. Machines attempt this with vibration, a myriad of roller designs as well as heavy wraps trying to mimic percussive techniques, but just beats on your muscles. We are not trying to “simulate” deep tissue techniques used by chiropractors, massage therapists and physical therapists. So, no wild claims of cures or unrealistic expectations.

What we are looking for is a small, hands free unit, where the rollers come as close together as possible for the neck. A massaging effect with passive mobilization as a main source of therapy as well. This one accommodates those objectives at a great price.

The neck massager is very simple in design and function. There are 2 variations to change the direction of the rollers, that’s it! No fancy stuff, bells or whistles. It is designed to sit or lie down positioning your neck in between the the rollers, which are controlled by an easy to use and simple remote. The massager will deliver some of the benefits of a therapeutic type massage to fatigued or stiff muscles, increase fluid circulation to the discs and joints as well as improve blood, helping in relief of neck pain and increasing ranges of articular and muscular motion. It should not be used alone for neck pain relief. Use in combination with important and specific neck exercises, supportive cervical pillows and proper ergonomics as an important part of recovering from injury or in order to improve the health of your neck.

Benefits Of The Neck Massager

Neck joints can become stiff from injuries, such as whiplash, arthritic conditions of the spine, overuse and poor or forward head posture. Often, stiff and painful joints are the result of tight muscles and the lack of regular movement or mobilization. Tight muscles may prevent joints from moving in its full range of motion and this prevents proper lubrication and nourishment. Joints that do not attain proper motion can, over time, degenerate. Even a relatively young person may develop joint degeneration or early osteoarthritis in the neck from long periods of inactivity, and we are seeing more of these problems with computer use for work and play. To help get relief from joint pain and stiffness, the neck massager helps to relax the muscles and provides joint motion through passive mobilization.

According to Manual Therapy Journal. 2008 Oct;13(5):387-96, passive joint mobilization offers pain relief, has a stimulating effect on the nervous system and can help improve function. In the study, joint mobilization improved outcomes about 20% compared to those who did not receive it. The study supports a neurophysiological model, where passive joint mobilizing of the joints stimulates areas within the central nervous system which extend beyond the specific area of treatment and that pain relief may last up to 24 hours. Now, this is just a study – only 20% better results and with specific techniques of manual mobilization. So, we are not expecting these results, however, it provides an additional physiological basis for using the passive mobilization portion of the massager.

The neck massager produces a variable range of passive joint mobilization intensity and may be effective for pain control in a widespread areas in addition to the neck. The neck massager is a great way to reduce muscle stiffness and associated joint restrictions, helping to nurture the joints and may help heal injuries and prevent degenerative changes in the neck.

The flexible rollers move in the directional planes to approximate the human touch. Along with the variable motion to the neck joints, by altering your position and pressure, there is more potential for a deeper massage into specific muscle groups or areas of the neck.

It is lightweight and readily portable, making it a great travel companion on the road or at work!

Neck Massager For Car

This neck massager can be used in a car, however, I do not recommend this because it can be distracting. So, a passenger could use it, but if there is a whiplash accident, it could cause more damage. So, we recommend you do not use it in a vehicle for these reasons.