 great product |
| Review Date: March 28, 2009 |
| Reviewer: F. Miranda, rockville md |
| i dont get as tired when i use this to give my wife a massage =] |
Happy Pressure
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| Review Date: July 31, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Barefoot Mechanic, Sugar Land, texas United States |
| I should really get my wife to review this product. She is the one benefiting. My fingers would get tired after half an hour of acupressure but now I can go much longer, the handle fits nicely in the hand and the knob is the right size to replace a thumb. |
Great little product
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| Review Date: April 28, 2010 |
| Reviewer: T. Studios, |
| I'd tried other pressure point massage devices but this one is easy to use, easy to carry, and very helpful both for self-massage and otherwise. |
Force the issue with this
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| Review Date: February 28, 2009 |
| Reviewer: M and G, Dover, NH |
If that knot just won't relax, and you've got a friend who'll bear down on you, this is for you.
Pro:
+ A singular purpose: go deep
+ Light
+ Durable
+ Price
Con:
- While you can use it by yourself, unlike the "jacknobber" any knots on your back half require a second person
- I haven't found the grip on this to be comfortable for me
- Less versatile that the "jacknobber", just the one probe to press with
- We dislike the dark color... we are prone to lose it
Bottom line: Recommended as a complement to the jacknobber. |
Good Design, But Some Intrinsic Limitations
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| Review Date: December 15, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Peter Borten, Portland, OR |
I am an acupuncturist and massage therapist, and I actually independently invented something much like this several years ago. Essentially, it was a dowel I could hold in my fist with a protrusion (like this tool has) between my index and middle fingers for working muscles. This tool is certainly a better creation.
The aims behind both my crude version and this better designed one are the same (as I see it) - saving your hands (and arms, elbows, shoulders, etc) and potentially allowing you to deliver more power than you might be able to with just your body.
As for delivering power, though, I find any person, of any size, can learn to give a massage that is deep and powerful enough for just about anyone. It's mostly a matter of learning to use proper angles, different body parts (e.g., elbows, knees, forearms), body weight, etc. You don't really need a tool for this. Unless you're injured, disabled, etc.
So, in my opinion, the only real need for a massage tool such as this is to save your body when giving massage. Otherwise, there is really nothing that a massage tool can do better than human hands can. The only exception is tools that you can use on yourself, like a Theracane, to work on places you otherwise couldn't get to by yourself, though it still doesn't actually work better than another person's hands would.
In my case, my thumbs and wrists bother me, so the idea of delivering pressure essentially via a closed fist was ideal. An vague equivalent would be doing pushups on your fists or using bars to do pushups. When you have your hands in line with your forearms this way, it's much less strain on your wrists than if your hands are flat on the floor, with the wrist in hard extension.
When you use a massage tool, you must understand that something is lost on both sides. As the giver, you lose sensitivity and precision. As the recipient, you lose on quality of massage and on the tactile feel that only flesh can deliver. I own a spa and employ about 20 massage therapists. My wife and I have gotten massages from all of them and dozens of others who've been with us over the years, and I've never met a massage therapist who regularly included any tools like this into their practice. Clients just wouldn't stand for it.
The main problem I have with this tool and the others in its family - the Knobble, the Jacknobber, etc - is that the massage is delivered through a piece of hard, rigid plastic. Same issue with wooden massage tools. To me, they just feel way too hard and way too inorganic.
What I did to remedy this was I got some of that stuff you dip tool handles in to give them a rubbery coat. I think it's called Plasti-Dip, though I'm sure there are lots of brands out there. Then I dipped the knob end of this thing into the plasti-dip over and over again (you need to wait about 30 mins between dippings - follow the directions on the can). I ended up giving it about 15 coats (seriously) before it developed a spongy feel. But it's considerably better now.
From what I gather, the massage tool industry needs to take a hint from the sex toy industry. The sex toy industry has probably spent millions on research and development into flesh-like substances, but the massage tool industry still relies mostly on hard plastic, wood, and stone. If these kinds of massage tools were coated with some sort of fleshy neoprene stuff to simulate the fat pad on the thumb, they would be worlds better. There, I just gave someone a million dollar idea. If you end up following through on this and developing great fleshy massage tools, I will gladly accept a few free samples in payment. You can contact me by email at peter@thedragontree.com
Anyway, back to the review. The other drawback is sensitivity. When you're working with your hands on someone, you can feel how the body responds as you enter. You feel muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones shift as you apply pressure. And meanwhile, you're able to fine tune your angle, pressure and speed to deliver the ideal massage. This is just not possible to anywhere near the same degree with a tool like this. Some of the client's response is translated through the tool into your hand, but less so with a tool like this, because of the type of grip, than with a tool like the Knobble.
There are two main ways to hold this thing. One is to slip your fingers inside the elliptical part, which is only possible if you have rather slender fingers like me (and even then, my fingers can feel a little cramped). The other is to grip the entire thing, using the finger indents. This is okay, but a bit of a thick thing to hold. It would be nicer if they designed it for just one kind of grip. It could have been made more like a tennis racket with a nice squishy grip.
SO, in summary, the primary drawbacks of this tool are essentially (1) the fact that it's a tool, which I can't take away any stars for - it is what it is - and (2) the material it's made of. Otherwise, the design is decent.
I do appreciate what these folks are doing to create well designed massage tools. Please just work on the materials. |
The Original Indexknobber
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| Review Date: December 2, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Michael Lee, |
| The handle is somewhat narrow, so if your hand is not small, it may be uncomfortable or impossible to hold it securely. The "knob" is a bit short, so it can't reach into deeper spaces. |
ok, but not great
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| Review Date: April 17, 2010 |
| Reviewer: M. Young, YAKIMA, WA, US |
| I had high expectations, but this item is only ok. It should be only used as an addition, and not substitution for human hands. |
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