Find The Best Neck And Shoulder Massager

A neck-and-shoulder massager is one of the most-purchased items in the category. The neck and shoulder area is liable to all manner of painful stress, sending people to seek therapeutic appliances for relief. The wonderful thing is there are lots of them for sale online. It’s difficult to figure out what some of these models are and how to use them, so I’ve selected some of the most popular ones found on Amazon in order to discuss their features and provide a general overview. Anyone experiencing a painful neck or shoulders understands that these must be of high quality and do what they are supposed to. I hope I can steer you to the types that may be the most useful to you.

When trying to choose the type to buy, you should ask yourself, What kind of massage action do I prefer, or what has worked best on me in the past? Remember that we’re looking at devices that generally can be operated by the average person, without needing anyone to help. However, some people with physical limitations/injuries may require assistance as some of these are either heavy (5-8 pounds) or must be positioned in a way that some might not be able to manage.

What are neck and shoulder massagers? For this article, I am not including wands or handheld massagers in this category, although wand vibrators or thumpers can be used on the area too. Right now we’re describing items that vibrate or rub the neck, or neck & shoulders, all at once, not a little spot at a time. Lift one out of the package, and you may feel a hard box inside it, where the electronics are, and you also may be surprised at the weight. They’re heavy. But they do a lot of work and make it possible for a person to get an excellent, pain-relieving massage without needing another person’s assistance. These can seem like answers to prayers!

 

 

A. Tapping or Percussion Massager

Many people swear by this type, the percussive kind. Also called thumper massagers. Some look like big padded horse collars, while others are thick leather or vinyl things you lay over your shoulders like a shawl and let the ends drape over your chest. These usually have an electronic box unit in the back of the neck that produces a percussion massage, and usually has a heat feature too. These are heavy, might weigh from 5-8 pounds or even a bit more. They may have one or more programs of changing rhythms and speeds of tapping which can feel better than a constant, unvarying percussion. The percussion can feel like tapping fingers, or stronger, like a hard rubber knob knocking on you. Think of the movies in which a masseur would do a karate-chop kind of thumping all over someone’s back. But electronic massagers replace the karate chop with tapping that is adjustable, from light taps to intense thumping and vibration.

Examples:
The iNeed Neck and Shoulder Pro Massager with Heat — $99 from Brookstone, found also on the Amazon website. Free shipping. Offers 3 different intensities of thumper massage – low, medium and high; heat on or off; and programmed vibration routines of soothe, pulse, or energize. Because I couldn’t figure out how to use those programmed routines (and it seems to be already in one) I always just clicked it on and then clicked the Heat button, and it starts off in Low massage. It goes through a variable percussion routine which starts off slowly. Then after a few minutes I’d click it to Medium, then sit as long as I can that way. It got rid of my headaches, which come from a sore neck. Sometimes I’d let it go too long, and it would shut itself off due to internal overheating. But that was only after something like 45 minutes or an hour. I admit, this one’s addictive.

Iliving’s Neck and Shoulder Tapping Massager with Heat is another drape-around-the-shoulders device, and it seems very close to the iNeed model, but its control buttons should be looked at carefully. Sometimes you need to be able to turn off something really fast if the percussion hurts or is simply too much. Iliving’s controls don’t have that central power button that the iNeed does, so you might have to frantically search if you want to lower the power while using it. Costs $66.99.

There are others of this category to check out, such as the Zyllion Neck and Shoulder Massager with Heat, Prosepra Neck and Shoulder Massager, Ninja Neck and Shoulder Massager.

B. Shiatsu Massager

These appliances might be smaller and are intended mostly for the neck. They are stiff, U-shaped curved items with padding on the inside, and have small nodes that massage by moving in small circular motions on the sides and back of the neck. Some have handles on the front to hang on to. More expensive models are box-shaped, designed so you can lie down and place your head and neck on it. These are also shown being used in a chair, held behind the person’s head/neck and the chair’s back.

Examples:
Brookstone iNeed Shiatsu Neck & Shoulder Massager is designed to be used easily if you’re sitting up. It has two leather straps in front you can use to pull the massaging nodes closer for a deeper massage. Choose Low or High intensity, and you can add Heat too. Price is high: $169.99, and it’s available from very few sellers.

HoMedics NMS-350 Shiatsu Neck Massager with Vibration and Heat combines some nice features for a good massage. This is a horse-collar type device with the shiatsu nodes placed to reach the back of your neck. Its price is very reasonable, around $39.99 ($35.99 on Amazon). It might not be as intense as some other models but the addition of heat is soothing. Some people complain that the nodes are in the wrong place; they don’t reach the sides of your neck, only the back.

Dr-Ho’s Shiatsu Neck & Shoulder Massager with Heat has a firmer shape if you want one you can lean back with and get massaged. Price is $94.97, down from $99.

The Kneading Shiatsu Massager Model AAHN 2012 is a unit shaped like a flat box with a couple of rotating ball-like prongs that rub in circles. You can lie down and put your neck into the embrace of the rounded parts and let it rub in circles on the sides and back of your neck, or follow directions to use it on other parts of your body. While it seems that some people swear by this, it’s unclear to me how anyone in pain could lie down on a hard plastic box even for a massage. (I think I’d be putting thin pillows all over the box itself so it didn’t hurt me.) Also unclear is how to secure it to a chair. Once it’s on, how do you turn it off? You have to bring it around you or get up out of it to turn it off; there is no remote control. But it seems to have stronger massage than many other shiatsu units. Its price falls around $228.00 — and has a 1-year warranty.

C. For The Upper Back or Base of Neck

Some of the appliances above — the percussives — can easily be used on other parts of the body, particularly the back, just by moving it. The shiatsu ones, not so easily. Since massaging your back is good for what’s above it, that’s why I’d like to include a couple of additional massagers in this section which aren’t specifically for the neck.

The Comfort Products Swing Shiatsu Massager with Heat: It’s an electronic pillow you put behind your back. Not a soft pillow, though! Remember that it has electronics and shiatsu nodes inside. It looks like it fits best at the upper back where the rolling shiatsu arms can really do you good. Heat too, it’s a very easy to use item. Just lean back on it. You can use it on your legs as well. $49.98

The Quality Life’s Kneading Massage Car Cushion Shiatsu Pillow: This one, unlike all the above, has a car adapter as well as a house charger, so you can take it with you. Not advised to be used while you are driving. This has most of the usual shiatsu rolling/kneading action you’ll usually find, and different settings for the type of kneading. Has heat too, and an automatic shut-off if it starts to overheat. $39.99 at Amazon.