Getting a massage is one of those things that everyone should experience at least once in their lives. If you have had a massage before then you know just how good they make you feel. For those of us who cannot afford to pay a professional masseuse every day, there are many kinds of chairs and cushions that claim to provide good massages. The HoMedics Shiatsu Massaging Cushion is one of those devices that makes such a claim.

Features

• State-of-the-art, dual massage mechanism acts like two hands providing a True Massage experience
• Shiatsu Plus Rolling massage travel up and down the back
• Spot Shiatsu feature holds the massage in just the spot you need it to help work out the tightest knots
• Adjustable Width setting for Rolling massage lets you adjust the massage rollers on either side of the spine for a custom-tailored experience
• Invigorating 3-speed vibration massage in the seat that helps increase circulation

This massaging cushion has two massage mechanisms that go up and down both sides of your spine. There are two options for the massage, in rolling mode the mechanisms only move up and down your back. In Shiatsu mode the mechanisms twist and turn to provide a much more intense massage.

In addition to moving up and down the back, when you are in Shiatsu mode you can set the massager to stay in one spot. This is really nice if you have a really tight muscle that needs extra work. In rolling mode you do not have the spot option, but you can adjust the width of the massage mechanisms. This is helpful if your tight muscles are not right along the spine.

Even though most of the action is on the back part of the massaging cushion the seat is not ignored. The seat of the massager has a vibrator built into it. This vibrator has three speeds which you can control.

The massager also has an auto shut-off. After 15 minutes the massager will turn off. This is to protect you from getting hurt by too much use of the chair. There is nothing stopping you from turning it right back on, but I recommend that you wait several hours before you start again.

Design

Designing a good massager is very important. First if it does not work correctly because it does not massage, then it is worthless. If it is uncomfortable then it will cause more problems than it will solve. Last, in the case of a massage cushion, it has to be easy to move and setup.

The HoMedics Shiatsu Massaging Cushion is very simply designed. The end user does not have to do anything difficult to set it up. After you unpack it from the box you need to remove the safety screw that I mentioned before. After that you plug it in and you are ready to go. There are safety straps that can be used to secure it to a chair so it doesn’t slip out from under you while you are using it. I recommend you use these, but they are not mandatory.

The actual massage cushion is all gray in the front and black in the rear. There is also a black pad on the back part of the massager that helps to soften the massage. This pad can be removed to make the massage harder.

There is a zipper on the back that can be used to access the inside of the massage cushion. Although, there are no user serviceable parts inside. It is probably best that you leave this alone because opening it could void your warranty.

The remote is very useful. It has 12 buttons and is divided up by function. The left side of the remote is devoted to the Shiatsu massage functions. The right side is for the rolling massage. The top has a demo button that will go through several different options and the bottom has a button for power and another button for the seat vibrator. The demo button is useless to the home user and is mostly used when you are checking it out at the store.

Performance

When you first get the massage cushion you will need to open the box and set it up. The first thing you need to do is remove the safety screw. This screw is holding the massage mechanism in place for shipping purposes. If you do not remove this screw before you turn it on you could permanently damage the cushion.

After removing the screw you need to find a good chair and strap it on and plug it in. There are two straps that you need to attach. One is on the back and the other is where the back meets the seat. Once those are around the chair then you plug in the transformer to the wall and the massager.

After setting up the massager all you need to do is sit on it and turn it on. You may want to start out with a rolling massage so that you can get a feel for the massager. I personally preferred the full back massage because it did not work one area too much. You can also adjust the massager so that it spreads the massagers farther apart for your comfort. After you are used to that massage, you can start moving on to other things. When you are in the Shiatsu mode you cannot spread the massagers out, but can pause the massager on a particular spot. One thing you will want to watch out for is working one spot too much. I actually found that if you worked one spot too much it would cause more pain when you were done. If you don’t use it too much then it really does a great job working your muscles and providing a great massage.

There is one thing that you need to watch out for. During my testing The massager actually stopped functioning. I contacted the manufacturer and was instructed to send the unit back. The strangest part of the request was that they wanted me to send them $10 as a restocking fee or handling fee. I was a little perplexed by this because if the massager was broken they weren’t going to restock it. Anyways, instead of doing that I contacted the PR rep that I got the unit from and sent it back to them. They sent me another one and I continued my testing. Believe it or not by about 2 weeks later this one stopped working also. It would not even turn on just like the last one. I was unable to get any answer about the last one so I can only assume either a flaw in the machine or maybe a power surge from my outlet burned out the transformer. If it was the later I would hope in the future they would built in some kind of circuit breaker that you can reset if it happens again. In the mean time I highly recommend that you use a surge protector and you unplug it when you are not using it.

Warranty and Support

The massager comes with a 2 year limited warranty. This warranty covers all manufacturer defects. The only problem is that in addition to paying for shipping back to the manufacturer you have to pay a $10 handling fee every time you send the massager in for service. While two years is a fairly good warranty the handling fee is crazy. I don’t know if they expect to be overwhelmed by returns and so to keep up they now charge a fee or what other reason they have.

Conclusion

When it was working the massager worked really well. It was very refreshing to use and I actually missed it when it was broken. I really can recommend it for anyone in need of a daily massage. If you do buy one then you really need to take precautions to make sure it does not get damaged by either a power surge or dropping or something because it is going to cost you. As always compare prices before purchasing.

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