Homedics SBM-200H Therapist Select Shiatsu Massaging Cushion with Heat

I've tried a lot of massage chairs, from the kind you pay a dollar to sit in at the mall to deluxe home models to little portable cushions, more or less like this one. One thing you won't ever get with even the high end models is something that truly resembles the actual experience of being massaged by a human being. Massage, and especially the therapeutic technique known as "shiatsu," is an art form and little roller balls following a preprogrammed pattern will never give the experience of being kneaded by hands (or massage balls wielded by competent hands) that can adjust to the contours of your back, accommodate the different levels of tension and stress in your various muscles, and most importantly adjust their approach to your specific body type.

Given this major drawback for all electronic massage chairs, this one doesn't do a bad job and does a better job than some I've tried. The roller balls, which can be heated or not according to your preference, simply go around in little circles up and down your back. You can have them go up your entire back or halfway up from the bottom or halfway down from the top, according to your preferences. There is no percussion or vibration possible on this model -- those are features on some of the more advanced models of this chair -- but the warm rolling and kneading motion does work the muscles around your vertebrae.

The biggest drawback as far as I am concerned is that there are no adjustments possible in the overall pattern of motion of the roller balls. I'm a very tall and large man and it feels like this was made for someone smaller. On certain parts of my back the balls roll too tightly for my comfort -- my wife, however, had no complaints and the motions seemed just right for her smaller frame. My overall assessment is that for the medium sized average user who is primarily interested in the kneading of roller balls, this would be an economic alternative to a higher end more versatile model that I would prefer.

The Shiatsu massaging cushion is shaped like a chair pad. It is portable and can be placed in any type of chair, including, I would assume, the front seat of a car. You'd need the proper plug adapter, though, because it works by plugging into an outlet, not by batteries. The only caveat for what chair you can place it in comes from the product's manual. It says to be careful of upholstery, so I put a towel over my padded recliner when I placed the cushion on it. That chair, by the way, was a great choice for using the cushion because I could recline while being massaged. To add to the relaxation experience, the cushion has a convenient, hand-held control which allows you to access with the touch of a finger the three different massage programs the cushion offers: (1) shiatsu spot massage, (2) regular shiatsu massage, and (3) rolling massage. When you choose the latter two programs, you can select movement up and down the full length of your back, or have the cushion focus on your lower or upper back. For all three programs, you can add heat, which amplifies the healing effects. You can also control the width of the massage so it conforms to your particular body size. There is also an automatic timer within the cushion that shuts it off after 20 minutes, but it feels so good, I did it for a full hour the first night. Be careful, though, that you don't do it too long. The automatic 20 minutes are about right for most people, because you can get, as the saying goes, "too much of a good thing," and give yourself a pain flare the next day if you have the cushion massage you too long.

I rate this product 5 stars for ease of use and portability, 5 stars for looks, 5 stars for how good it feels, and definitely 5 stars for value for the money. While a simple, electric cushion like this can't take the place of a human masseuse, I found it felt almost as good as a very expensive, electric massage table I have used in my chiropractor's office--and a comparable 20-minute treatment by that table costs almost as much as the price of this cushion.

By the way, you don't have to have a chronic back problem to find good use for this cushion. It would make a great gift for most of the adults on your Christmas list. I plan to give one to both of my children. At ages 19 and 22, they don't have the middle-aged aches my husband and I suffer, but they periodically get acute back pain from overdoing it in sports.

I've sat in those $2,000 massage chairs, and let me tell you: this little cushion is not as good as those chairs.

But you know what? I'd say it's about half as good. And for 1/20th the price, that's pretty incredible.

Pros:
It feels great. That's the main thing, and all that really matters, right?

It's amazingly strong considering how small the motors must be. I'm a pretty big guy, and even when I lean on it it keeps on cranking away.

It's not bulky, so it hasn't made my chair appreciably smaller.

The width of the rollers is good for me.

Good materials, and it looks decent on my home office chair.

And again, it's an excellent value for what it does.

Cons:

One of the buttons on the remote died, so if I want a full back massage, I have to orchestrate it with the other modes.

I've got it on an office chair the rolls and swivels, and the cord gets tangled around the chair a lot. Not the fault of the manufacturer, but it might annoy some people.

It doesn't reach the very lowest or highest parts of the back, at least on a 6-foot tall person like me.