If you are experiencing neck or upper back pain, you can alleviate the discomfort by combining exercises with massage. A shiatsu massager designed for the neck and back is highly recommended if you are looking for a neck massager. I have previously covered neck pain exercises extensively in my previous articles. Still, when it comes to massage, there are two options available – you can either go for a manual massage at a massage centre or get a neck massager and use it at home.
Both have pros and cons. If you’re busy, you may find it difficult to visit a massage centre, make an appointment, and wait for your turn. However, if you have a neck massager at home, you can use it whenever convenient.
Choosing the right neck massager can be overwhelming, but in this article, I will share a review of a shiatsu neck massager that I found to be very effective. I will describe how the product works and how it can help you loosen stiff muscle knots on your upper back and around the neck. I use this massager regularly at home and have found it highly effective.
Review of shiatsu massager for neck and back
The neck massager I will review today is from Agaro company, and its model number is Elite. However, you can choose any other brand with a similar feature. So, before we move to the neck massager review, let us discuss some common reasons for neck pain and why this type of massager will give you good results.
One of the most common causes of neck pain is stiffness in the muscles around the upper back and neck. Chronic neck stiffness can lead to the formation of muscle knots that can be very painful. Another common reason for neck stiffness is continuously focusing on a computer screen. To maintain focus, we need to keep our neck straight so that the muscles around the neck and upper back region work continuously.
This leads to the development of stiffness and spasms, which is why we have to adopt a good sitting posture while working at the desktop, and it would be better if we take out 5 minutes every 30 to 45 minutes and perform simple neck stretching exercises for 5 minutes.
This neck massager helps massage the neck and upper back muscles to release this stiffness and relax the muscle knots for relief and a soothing effect.
What is the Shiatsu neck massager, and what are its unique feature
The neck massager we are talking about has two very beneficial properties. First, it gives a massage that resembles a soothing hand massage, and second, it also provides heat therapy. So, it has an inbuilt system that can simultaneously provide massage and heat therapy, and together, when they work, they will give you instant relief and relaxation in your neck muscles.
So overall, the build quality of this massager is very premium. It’s made of rexine material, and its stitches are very strong, and it is very it look wise it looks very premium. It has a main unit that comes with two roller units to massage both your left and right side neck muscles and upper back muscles. On each side, the roller unit consists of three spherical rollers of different sizes.
These rollers are capable of rotating in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions. The bigger roller gives more massage pressure, resembling the effect of a thumb moving on our neck, and the smaller one with lighter pressure gives the effects of fingers.
As you can see in the second image, it emits red infrared rays and provides soothing, lukewarm heating.
Lukewarm heating is very beneficial for relaxing the stressed muscles. So when it rotates, it gives a soothing effect as if the fingers and thumb of a human massager are moving over our neck muscles and giving a nice hand massage.
How to use Shiatsu massager for neck and upper back pain
Using the shiatsu neck massager is so easy that even granny can learn it instantly for her neck pain. Though you can use it at any time of the day, I would suggest using it at the end of the day when you come from your workplace and you are tired. Just before bed, have this massage session for 15 minutes, and it will give you instant relief. So, here is the step-by-step guide to use it for yourself and your family.
Step#1 Place it on neck
So using this massager is very simple. Place it on your neck with its two arms by the sides. Arms have forearm rest to put both of your forearms in a comfortable position. It also serves the purpose of stabilising the main unit in its place. As you can see in the figure, the forearm is placed on the massager’s arm. This is the starting point.
One important point is that it is not a wireless unit; you have to connect it to an electric supply with an adapter provided with it.
Step#2 Switch on the unit
On one of the arms, there are control switches. As you can see, it has four buttons with different functions. First, we have to switch on the unit by pressing the power on and off button. This will start the unit, and rollers will move on your neck. The movement of the roller will give a soothing massage to your neck muscles. If you can feel that the massage’s intensity (speed of roller) is too low or too high, you can even control the intensity.
Control speed, direction
It has three other switches that control the unit. Next to the power switch is the button that controls the intensity of the massage. By pressing it, we can switch the intensity of the massage from low to medium and medium to high at your convenience. The next switch is for changing the roller’s rotation direction, so when you press it, if it is moving in an anticlockwise direction, you can change it to a clockwise direction. You can do it at your convenience.
Control lukewarm heat
The last button controls the heat therapy. The lukewarm heat therapy is switched off by default, so when you press this button, the heat therapy is initiated. So, at your convenience or comfort level, you can set up all these modules and get therapy and heat therapy together. Massage and heat therapy simultaneously will give you almost instant relief from your neck pain.
Other uses
Though its design perfectly suits neck massage, its usage is not limited to this. You can use it for various other joint pains, such as low back pain, thigh pain, calf pain, and ankle and foot pain.
Keep Reading: How to Use Massage Gun on Lower Back Pain
Dr Sunit Sanjay Ekka is a physiotherapist in practice for the last 15 years. He has done his BPT from one of the premium Central Government physiotherapy colleges, ie, SVNIRTAR. The patient is his best teacher and whatever he gets to learn he loves to share it on his Youtube channel and blog.
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