Functional, Feel-Good Furniture
Don't get knotted up over massage chairs - buy a luxury edition or outfit any chair with massage pads for a flexible upgrade
Image courtesy Sharper Image/Human Touch
In chiropractor Scott Donkin's opinion, all recliners should be massage chairs. "Imagine you're watching the Super Bowl," says Donkin. "Your body is just sitting there and your circulation is diminishing. Now imagine you had a chair that worked for you rather than against you."
That's the promise of massage chairs. Massage promotes circulation, which expedites healing, and massage chairs allow you to enjoy unlimited massages in the comfort of your home.
But just looking at the massage chair market can get you knotted up. At the high end are luxury chairs such as Human Touch's Zero-Gravity massage chair, which retails for an estimated $4,000. When the massage begins, the chair reclines into a "zero-gravity" position to reduce stress on the spine and improve circulation while the massage mechanism emulates the techniques of human hands.
Notably at the top of its category, the Zero-Gravity chair is a finalist in the furniture category of the International Housewares Association's 2008 Housewares Design Awards, which will be determined later this spring.
Two more luxury massage chairs are Panasonic's Swede-Atsu Wave, $2,000, and the Real Pro Elite, $4,000, which are the only massage chairs endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association. The ACA chose the chairs based on their high degree of massage precision and adjustability.
Then there are massage pads, such as the Shiatsu massage cushion with heat by HoMedics, which can turn any chair into a relaxing getaway for $100.
"Our philosophy is to take away the leather, the legs and all the chair parts of a massage chair and just use the mechanism," says Barb Westfield, chief marketing officer at HoMedics. "That's what a massage chair is anyway."
Once you decide your price range and what functionality you want, the only way to decide which massage chair is right for you is to get comfortable and start comparing massages, Donkin says.
It's hard work, but somebody has to do it.
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