As a massage therapist, I do lots of chair massage, and this tool, the Gaiam Pressure Point Massager (aka the spiky roller ball gadget), is so amazing, I must write a blog post about it!

I first discovered it when my trainer, Matt Fuhrmann at Tao Health & Fitness, bought one at a local store and brought it into the school. I tried it on myself and was impressed. Those little spiky points seem to activate the sensory nerves in a way that is pleasurable, and almost as a side effect, the muscles it rolls over release tension.

I used it lightly on myself and my chair massage clients until the day after a workout that I handed it to Matt to roll my tight, sore shoulders for me. He used a lot of pressure on my upper traps, shoulders, and upper back, more than I’d ever used on myself or anyone else. The sensations were intense, with that exquisite “hurts-so-good” feeling, and so was the tension release. I felt rushes up and down my whole body!

After that, I started checking in with my chair massage clients about how much pressure felt good to them. I use less pressure on bare skin than I do over clothing, and of course, every body is different, so checking in is critically important to avoid hurting them (in a hurts-so-bad way). Continue reading →