Friday, November 28, 2008

A Shiatsu Massage Recliner Saves Thousands on Massage Therapy

By James Knolan

When you think of massage chairs, you think of luxury, comfort and relaxation. People do not normally think of saving money when buying a massage chair. However, certain conditions may be effectively relieved with massage chairs. The cost of treatments or spa services are on the rise, as is health care in general. Ultimately, massage therapy is a result. You are seeking relaxation, pain relief, or perhaps feeling good. Obtaining this result is actually more cost effective with a massage chair.

Let us take an example. We go to get our massage at the day spa. First, we need to call them and schedule a time. We are going to have travel time to go and come back from the massage. There is also the total time involved. Massage time is the bonus time the rest of the time can be considered the cost involved. The massage is not free, so we must pay for the time of the massage and a gratuity. If we go 3 times every month, by the end of the year we are spending thousands.

Some people need to go physical therapy or perhaps a chiropractor. The health care providers help to set you back on the right path of healing your condition. They help you get started with some basic techniques and treatments to help correct the situation. Many of these providers make use or recommend massage therapy as a compliment to your healing process. If you have started a path to recovery then these visits start to add up until you can take over on your own.

Now, if you really need massage therapy, then you have options. You can certainly see a massage therapist. A massage therapist is definitely a great way to go, when you can afford both the time and the money. However, massage chairs are another viable alternative. Massage chairs range in price from $599 to $5,999 and offer a terrific range of massage therapies and full body massages.

The interesting thing is people look at massage chairs as expensive. They see the total cost of say $3,000 and they think, Wow! That is expensive for massage therapy. But they really do not look at paying $75 plus tip once a week as expensive. Let us say that a massage therapist runs $75 plus tip at $10 for a total of $85 per a one hour session. Let us assume that we visit the massage therapist once a week. How long does it take until we pay for the cost of a $3,000 massage chair? It takes 35 weeks or 35 massage therapy sessions.

The massage chair cost is equivalent to 35 hours of massage therapy performed by a massage therapist. How long are massage chair rated to last? Typical massage chairs in the $3,000 range are designed for 1,000 to 2,000 hours of life. Let us take the lower number of 1,000 hours. How much does an hour of massage therapy cost on a massage chair. $3,000 divided by 1,000 gives us $3/hour of massage therapy! The best part is you do not have to tip the massage chair. You can pay a massage therapist $85/hour or $3/hour for a massage chair.

The real economics of the massage recliner is that it is a vastly superior value to traditional massage therapy. Obviously, getting a massage from a masseuse has its advantages beyond just the economics. But massage chairs also have some major advantages of availability and accessibility. Not to mention the overwhelming economic advantage. There certainly is tremendous value over the long run with a massage chair. - 15432

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