Thera Cane Massager
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List Price: Our Price: $27.99 You Save: $19.01 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of Thera Cane Massager
Customer Review: love, Love, LOVE this thing!
Summary: 5 Stars
I usually will not take the time to review items, but I HAD to make the exception for the Theracane. This is one of the best things I have bought myself and it has been affectionately dubbed "the boyfriend" due to the amount of timne I spend with it. Getting your mind out of the gutter, I could barely move when I purchased this. I had prior experience with a similar device years ago. One of my friends had been given by our NFL team and I loved it and wanted one, but never had gotten around to getting it.
Enter high stress job where I travel every weekend. Sitting on a plane hours at a time and sleeping in different 4 different beds 12 nights a month started wreaking havoc on my body. Not to mention, I'm fairly intense to begin with. I love this thing because I can get in there and use as much pressure as I am comfortable with. I like hard pressure and most massage therapists can't get in the muscle like I can with the Theracane. After about a week of 3 times a day with the Theracane and the use of the Trigger Point therapy book, I felt like a new person. My back and shoulders relaxed, I found places on my legs and arms that were very painful and with some work, I now move more freely.
The cane is very sturdy, I'm sure one could break it, but it would take some effort. I have knocked myself upside the head with it while trying out different ways of using it, as it is a bit awkward. However, there is a little booklet that comes with it that gives you ideas and also there is a DVD that you can buy, but I have no idea what is on that.
I use it working at the computer, watching TV, after the gym, on the road (it will fit in a 25" rolling suitcase at a diagonal angle.) My real boyfriend uses it as he does not like strong pressure and can use as little as he likes, my work partner has also purchased on after my rave reviews of it and I will most likely have it with me when I visit family and get them hooked on it too.
Customer Review: Useful
Summary: 5 Stars
One thing to remember when using this cane, that I learned through my own research, is that if you are having any kind of muscle pain then you might want to consider if it's the fascia that's locking in that muscle pain. Fascia is best described as a type of saran wrap that covers all of your muscles in your body. It can be damaged by many things, including prolonged sitting.
Anyways, you want to use this cane in a manner that goes in the opposite direction of the muscle. Example: the muscles in your legs run vertically so if your problem is in this area, then you should find a position on the floor where you can extend your leg and use short strokes horizontally on the trouble spot. Pull a little bit like you would when you stretch then release. You have to probe around to find where the spot on your body is where the fascia is crosslinked. If this is what the problem is then you will know because it is almost painful when you pull it at first in the opposite direction. Work at it a few nights a week, not too much at first. Best done when the muscles are warm(after a shower or use a hotpack) then stretch out the area The muscle can't be stretched properly without breaking these crosslinks.
After you break the crosslinks you need to stretch EVERY night to make sure that the muscles don't crosslink again, especially if you have a job where you sit down all day. In as little as a week they can start to re-form.
I have done a lot of personal research on the web because I wasn't getting very many positive results from any of the professionals that I saw. I worked on myself and now I have no more of that nagging pain that use to run down my right leg.
I also sit on a towel covered rolling pin in my car to relieve the pressure in the back of my upper thighs and it has helped tremendously.
It worked for me...might work for you also. Goodluck!!!
Customer Review: Great massager for hard to reach places
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked up the Theracane after reading the many great reviews and reading about it in the Trigger Point Workbook by Claire Davies. If anyone out there is suffering from chronic aches or pains I highly recommend getting this book as well as checking out this very good site by Paul Ingraham called saveyourself.ca. There is a wealth of information there. Of course, you should be checked out by a doctor first to make sure there are no serious problems but it seems more likely that problems are from the result of myofacial pain.
I have nasty and numerous trigger points in my upper back and neck and have been living with frequent stiffness, aches and pain off and on for the last 4 or 5 years. I've frequented a Chiropractor and massage therapists but the pain usually returns regularly. I've decided that getting informed and taking matters into my own hands is the best and cheapest way to manage my pain. I've found that the Theracane is very good for reaching some of the trigger points on my back and on top of my shoulders. The little nubs in the center are pretty good for digging into occipital muscles in the back of my head and ones in my neck as well. It's very solidly made as well so a great amount of pressure is easy to achieve.
As good as the Theracane is though, it is not always the best tool for the situation. A lot of times if you can reach your trigger point with your hands and have the right technique you can really zero in better. I also highly recommend using various sizes of hard rubber balls. The one I like the most is actually made by the company Kong as a dog chew toy. It's just a very solid rubber ball with a very light give. Rolling this against the wall is very effective. I actually prefer it to the Theracane for the most part these days. That being said, I would highly recommend adding the Theracane to your arsenal of tools. It's good to have a variety.
Customer Review: Wonderful alternative to deep professional massage
Summary: 5 Stars
I suffer from moderate to severe neuromuscular pain that is sometimes temporarily relieved by very strong localized pressure to trigger points or knots. Most of my physical/massage therapists are unable to apply enough pressure to make their services worthwhile. Can't recall if I purchased the Thera Cane from Amazon or not, but the product was recommended to me by my first physical therapy center, and it has sat within reaching distance every since I purchased it years ago.
The hook shape with a long handle allows you to lever the device off of your shoulder, creating enough leverage to deliver as much pressure as you want. You can also achieve leverage in different ways as show on the picture with the woman using it under her arms, where you can create significant torque with the improvised handle/massage head on the long-end.
The only negative I have cannot be attributed to the actual product itself but my bilateral shoulder joint pain. It can sometimes be prohibitively painful to create leverage with the Thera Cane as you often need to push outwards-- I mention this in case you suffer from rotator cuff/shoulder instability pain as well. There's usually a way around this since the design is open to various configurations, and there are many pressure points that won't engage your shoulder joints/muscles.
And one last caveat: in my experience, it only has stability for self massage, since it creates the leverage off of your own body. When I gave it to one of my massage therapists who just couldn't go hard enough with her fingers or knuckles, she struggled with the Theracane. It would slip precipitously off of thin muscles and knots -- so I would definitely not recommended this for use on others.
Bottom line is that the Thera Cane is a brilliant tool for self massage. It's great for anyone with sore, tight back or neck muscles.
Customer Review: Really improved the QUALITY of my life!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have used this cane for about 6 years. When I got it all my muscles were so tight I could hardly do anything without cramping up a muscle. The massage therapist would get bounced off muscles during deep muscle massage. It is the most useful and helpful tool I've ever owned. At first I cried while using it, any spot I touched was so tender and tight. But I kept at it and now I use it before muscles get too tight, at first hint of pain. I have osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia and in addition, had been through several severe emotional trauma's. The loss of my daughter, grand-daughter, husband and brother, plus our family home & most of our pets (to fire), all in 13 months and I was still primary care giver to two teenage daughters. While I still suffer a lot of pain, it is not nearly as severe as it was then and I credit the theracane, rest and light exercise with the improvement. I ran out of money for private massage and any physical therapy that my insurance paid was 3.5 hours away so the theracane was & has become my best friend!!! I take it anytime I leave town and my worst fear is leaving it somewhere. I can tell you, I would go back and get it!!!! I still have fibro flares but I believe being aggressive with the trigger points (and tender spots, less aggressively but consistently) shortens the duration of the flares and it improves the quality of my sleep. I even have fibro in my face and use the shorter knobs on my eyebrow ridges and lightly on the trigger points in my jaw and cheeks. A little spendy here on Amazon but definitely worth the money!!! joyfully, Dianne