Dr. Weidner here again. I am just so excited about the new model from Family Inada called the Sogno massage chair. I have seen images of this chair and the first thing that struck me is how amazing and contemporary it looks. It will be released to the US public at the end of April or the first part of May. We have already pre-ordered one for our own showroom. Some of the things I like about it include neck traction, along with regular neck traction, a hip air massage on either side of your seat that undulates in a figure 8 to work the side of your hips, and arm massage air bags hidden within the frame of the chair. It is really quite unique. The US distributor says that this massage chair will blow away all other chairs. I can’t wait to see it!!

Family Inada has been making high quality massage chairs since at least the early 1970’s and has progressively developed new chairs that are industry leaders in design and function. They are created in Japan, whereas most other chairs are manufactured in China, and are usually priced at a higher point than most other chairs. The Sogno will have two models, one for $5999 and one for $6499. The higher priced massage chair will be sold through health care providers and has some additional features over the lower priced model. Once we get all the data on the chair, I will post it on this blog. In the meantime, here is a video that describes more of the features of this unique and amazing chair…

Jimmie R. bought an Omega Montage massage chair from us a couple of weeks ago. I just had to share his experience with you because it teaches some really good and bad lessons about massage chair usage.

We set up the chair, left some instructions with Jimmie on how to use the remote control and some of the other features, and then left him to his own “therapeutic designs”.

A week later, I visited with Jimmie and asked him how the new massage chair was working for him. He told me the following…

He had sat on the massage chair for 3 HOURS! Yes, you heard me right…3 straight, solid hours of massage chair therapy, on the first day! He then told me that he was sick for a week. I asked him if he had nausea, a cold, flu, headaches, or what. He said “Yes” to all of those symptoms. So, after sitting on a massage chair for 3 straight hours, he developed all kinds of “flu-like” symptoms that persisted for a week.

I asked him how he was doing now and he said fantastic. He said that his neck and arm pain that he had had for years was all gone. He said he never felt better! Isn’t that something?

So, I figure what happened was that he sat on the massage chair way too long, which unleashed lots of toxins from the muscles into his body (most bodies are not accustomed to massage when they receive it). These toxins have a nasty way of expressing themselves, as in the above list of symptoms suffered by our dear friend Jimmie. Then he felt great because the long and short of it is that massage from massage chairs actually is VERY THERAPEUTIC. Jimmie reaped the benefits of massage, but just in a far more difficult way than he actually had to experience them.

Here are the lessons learned:

1. Do not sit on a massage chair for 3 hours if you are not accustomed to the massage chair therapy. 10 - 20″ is just fine to start.
2. Drink plenty of non-carbonated beverages, i.e. water, after a massage chair session to minimize the toxin pain.
3. Expect to feel better, because your body really appreciates being massaged.
4. If you are sore after your first few massage chair sessions, don’t be discouraged. It is commonplace and you WILL feel better…I promise.

Thanks for the lessons Jimmie and I am sure glad you are loving your new massage chair.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Have you been having bad headaches, pain and numbness in your arms or down your legs? Have you been experiencing sharp pain in your ribs or back when taking in a breath or just changing positions? You could have trigger points in your muscles sitting on nerve pathways causing this pain. Now while trigger points are not always the cause for these symptoms, before looking into surgery and/or taking heavy medication it may be worth it to schedule a massage session with a licensed massage therapist who specializes in deep tissue and trigger point therapy. Once you find out that you, in fact, have trigger points, then regular sessions on your massage chair will serve you greatly. You do not need to go too terribly frequently to a massage therapist if you have a massage chair in your home or business. Regular use of your massage chair has been shown to reduce muscle spasm and trigger points.

What is a trigger point you ask? The simple version is this; they are deposits left behind in a muscle that has sent a message to the brain that it has been injured, whether through repetitive strain or a traumatic injury. Once the brain receives the signal it sends out a distress call and several chemical mediators show up to the site. In the process of repair sometimes little “buildups” are left behind. These are what patients commonly call their “knots.” When a trigger point is sitting on a nerve it can cause localized or referred pain. That is why your headaches may be coming from your neck or shoulder pain could be from one in your back. They can form in any muscle, big or small. Not all trigger points are active there are some that are latent…these are masses that you can feel but they do not cause pain.

The good news is that although they can cause chronic conditions if not rubbed out and a lot of pain, once they are found and “worked” on by a skilled LMT or by your massage chair recliner, the painful symptoms should subside as well. So if you can endure the discomfort of a deep tissue/trigger point session, or if you can stand resting on your massage chair a couple of times a day for a while, you should feel better within a few days. Always remember to drink a lot of water after one of these sessions to flush out what the therapist or massage chiar has broken up and don’t be surprised if you feel a little bit worse before you feel better, but it’s worth it!

Steffanie Wistos, LMT
Commercial Sales Manager
www.massage-chair-relief.com

It doesn’t happen very often, but once in a great while we have a massage chair returned to us. Some folks who have never tried out the massage chair prior to ordering it find that it doesn’t fit them properly or that it is too aggressive or not aggressve enough. Some folks just have buyer’s remorse.

Whatever the reason, we know that it happens and we want to make sure that each and every customer is happy with their investment. In the event that a massage chair is returned to us, here are our return policies:

1. we will refund the total purchase amount, less the cost of shipping the massage chair back to us. I once was asked if the person returning the massage chair is responsible for paying for the free shipping to the buyers home or business. The answer is “no”…we refund everything. The buyer is just responsible for the cost of shipping the massage chair back to us. Now, we can arrange the shipping and have it picked up for you, but that shipping cost will be deducted from  your refund amount.

2. we offer a 90-day money back guarantee on all of our massage chairs. We recommend holding onto the shipping materials until you are at least sure that you are going to keep your massage chair. If you decide to return it you will have the packing material available. If you throw it away and you decide to return the chair, you will be responsible for providing packing material for it before shipping.

3. We refund the full amount of the original purchase price, including sales tax if the massage chair was purchased in Utah, by check and not by putting the money back into your credit card account. Since the credit card companies charge us a percent amount of the purchase price for each transaction, we prefer to send a check and save the percentage points.

4. Refunds are issued once the massage chair has been received and checked to make sure it is functioning normally.

5. If you just want to exchange your massage chair for another, decide which chair you want, ship your first chair back to us and we will ship the new massage chair choice to you. We will then either bill or credit you the difference. Free shipping also applies to the new chair, by the way.6. There are no refunds offered for international orders.

I hope this makes our policies clear. Let us know if there is anything else we can answer for you that I have not covered in this blog entry.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com