Body Back Mini - Neck and Shoulder Massager

I bought this to use in my office at lunch and while sitting on the phone. I also had first the Theracane and Trigger Point Therapy book that was very helpful/successful in treating a few problem painful areas. But with all therapy, the more you practice it, the more successful, hence I bought this to keep and use at work. (My review will also compare it to the Theracane, or TC, along the way...) It is very sturdy in construction. More so then the TC. When plying to massage a back area, it has no give/flex to it. It also has a pointier end knob that the TC doesn't on one end. It may be better or just a wash as compared to the ball the the ends of the TC. It definitely has more knobs and arms to use, though I haven't explored using them all. The ones I use are pretty standard for my shoulders, hips, and back. The size of this one is a bit more unwieldy as it has dual hook ends vs. the simple cane style of the TC. If space is not an issue, such as lying on the floor to use, no biggie. But for confined space like I have in an office, it makes it a bit more tricky to maneuver/administer. I'm going to switch this to home use and that should take care of that issue. The manual isn't too helpful as they really don't show specific ways to treat an area, but give general tips of using it. The TC's was a bit more helpful. But no matter, since I highly recommend Claire Davis' Trigger Point Therapy book and that has it all. Using either of these 2 products with that book is dynamic recipe for successful self-therapy. I found the TC a bit more to my liking, but just bit. You can't go wrong using the back buddy for sure and some might prefer this one too. As a note, I got the mini one with my order. I was disappointed in that though. It is a little flimsy and cannot apply as much pressure as I'd like to.. plus only works a limited number of areas. Big one - yes, but mini - not recommended. But I am more broad shouldered and thick chested, so for a smaller framed person, it might work a whole lot better.

In a nutshell: This product is strong and durable and should last me a long time and will save my hands from self massage. Additionally it has a ton of extra pressure knobs in order for the user to be infinitely creative in their self treatment. I have used the competitors products and they are both great! The extra knobs are worth choosing this one due to the ability to get to so many other muscles and additional leverage. P.s. It came in a HUGE box. I'm constantly self massaging my neck and shoulders due to poor posture and working habits compounding with stress. I recognize that postural correction including postural strengthening and neuromuscular control would be of most benefit for improving my tight, stressed, and overworked muscles however sometimes I just need to alleviate an aggravated muscle with self massage. This tool is the solution! Self massage can be very difficult and sometimes may even work against you. It is important to relax a muscle during massage and this tool was designed to allow the user to apply pinpoint pressure to almost anywhere on the body while maintaining a relaxed position with relaxed muscles. More pressure isn't better with a massage regardless of what some people may believe. It's neuromuscular science, not metal working. A muscle knot is not something that can only be squeezed or wrenched out (often times this can create more tissue damage). Accurate and appropriate pressure is infinitely better to use for massage. - Find a knot or trigger point aka: palpable taught band in the muscle (sometime you need to use your hands to find them or pinpoint your target) - slowly sink into the tissue so as to increase pressure moderately without allowing the knot to slip out from under the pressure - maintain moderate pressure and palpate (aka feel) around the taught band in order to get an idea of size and shape of the knot (visualize the knot as you treat it) - pressure should be firm but not uncomfortable, the goal is to relax the target muscle while applying accurate pressure to the knot - an alternative technique would be to do the same as above but slowly lengthen and shorten the muscle while applying the pressure to the taught band - a relaxed muscle with moderate/firm pressure on a trigger point or knot is able to neuromuscularly (kinda made that word up) decrease the resting tension of the muscle or "reset" to a more normal resting tension (this can take up to 90 seconds with continuous and accurate pressure) - Visualizing the muscle while you treat it and relaxing make a huge difference (anatomy pictures are worth looking at) - Periodically palate with your hand to reassess the size and shape of the knot - experiment with the vector direction of the force to find a different angle to treat the same muscle with - some knots or trigger points will seem to melt away with accurate and appropriate pressure, others with twitch and relax - some will seem to melt away from pressure and move to where you push them... follow the muscle and it's tension, it will tell you where to go next - some knots will feel big and general, explore these and find the most sensitive point of the muscle - some will refer pain to other areas of the body

A good helpful product, however the smaller one could have been of a better quality.

I would be absolutely lost without this wand I use it on my shoulder and I use it on my sciatic nerve in my hip it relieves the pain in both almost immediately!! It's the perfect size to get into my shoulder the tip of it has an action just like getting reflexology or pressure point. It's made very sturdy that would not snap you can put quite a bit of pressure I'm 130 pounds and I have used as much pressure as I possibly can with this wand and I am quite strong as I work out with weights.

Very fast shipping and great quality. I bought one for myself and one for my parents. The little knobs and balls are great for digging into muscles to apply acupressure. The two handles allow you to apply torque and leverage. If you experience deep hard-to-reach muscle pain regularly, I would encourage you to get this.

Probably the best money I have spent all year! I get persistent back and shoulder (around the blade) tension and it was impossible to get with just my fingers. This little beauty gets them all! I actually shaved off the point as I found that too painful and not I do not travel anywhere without it. If only it was a different color as because of the size and shape you get some really odd looks! :)

I have constant neck and shoulder pain and have a regular size Thera Cane at home. It is too big to put into my luggage so I purchased this handy dandy one. This will be good to travel with to loosen some knots. It does feel a little sharp in some areas but works okay.