Body Back Mini - Portable Neck and Shoulder Massager for Pain Relief, Electric Muscle Relaxation - Perfect for Office, Home & Travel Use

I have scoliosis in my thoracic spine which causes a lot of stiffness and pain in my shoulder when I sit at my desk for long periods (and most any other time too). You are probably reading reviews for the Mini Body Back Buddy because you have some of the same concerns about buying this that I did. I'll try and address them.USEUse this tool to find and treat trigger points (places that hurt really bad with minimal pressure). You will know them when you find them! (but if you need help, there are pictures on the web if you google "trigger point therapy") From my understanding, trigger points are areas in the muscle tissue that are chronically tight and hurt directly and/or refer pain or numbness to other parts of the body. The theory is, if you loosen these tight areas, you increase circulation and range of motion so healing can begin and pain will lessen. If you can balance trigger point therapy to help heal the damage that has already been done by the stiffness while working to correct the original issue that caused the trigger point (injury, posture, or overuse), the muscle can be retrained and pain relief can be long term. I am working on the long term part, but I can say that trigger point therapy does provide at least short term relief. The mini back buddy is just one tool you can have in your pain fighting arsenal.It's small-ish size makes it easier to carry around with you or stash in in your desk at work. Oh yeah, and the blue nubby handle is perfect for scratching your back.CONSTRUCTIONNot sure I get why some reviewers are saying this is poorly made and too flexible (unless the manufacturers have changed the materials they use-I got this March 2015). It is made of PDSP (pretty darn sturdy plastic) and feels solid. It does flex a little when I pull as hard as I can on it, but please remember this thing is supposed to be applied to trigger points. If you are flexing it to the point you feel like it's going to break, you are not using it on a trigger point...or else you would be on the floor in tears in the fetal position. Not to say that you CAN'T apply enough pressure with this thing to make you feel like you need to take such actions. You most certainly can. I have made bruises on my back and shoulders with this thing without ever feeling like I was going to break it. (Just a word of advice: if you do end up making bruises, give yourself some time to heal before you use it again). That being said, the amount of effort you need to use to really get into a trigger point with this tool is fairly slight (torque, physics, and other complicated stuff like fairy dust and unicorn hoof are to thank for this).The nubs at both ends of it are shaped the way they are because they need to be in order to provide TARGETED (and mainly static) pressure for 10-30 seconds at a time.. If you want a tool that can be used to MASSAGE a larger area, get something else. THIS IS NOT A BACK MASSAGER.WHY ONLY 4 STARS?It didn't come with any instructions what so ever and I was not able to find instructions specifically for this device online, so I'm left to guess at how to use it and hope I don't hurt myself in the process.In a nutshell: This product is strong and durable and should last me a long time and will save my hands from self massage. Additionally it has a ton of extra pressure knobs in order for the user to be infinitely creative in their self treatment. I have used the competitors products and they are both great! The extra knobs are worth choosing this one due to the ability to get to so many other muscles and additional leverage. P.s. It came in a HUGE box.I'm constantly self massaging my neck and shoulders due to poor posture and working habits compounding with stress. I recognize that postural correction including postural strengthening and neuromuscular control would be of most benefit for improving my tight, stressed, and overworked muscles however sometimes I just need to alleviate an aggravated muscle with self massage. This tool is the solution!Self massage can be very difficult and sometimes may even work against you. It is important to relax a muscle during massage and this tool was designed to allow the user to apply pinpoint pressure to almost anywhere on the body while maintaining a relaxed position with relaxed muscles.More pressure isn't better with a massage regardless of what some people may believe. It's neuromuscular science, not metal working. A muscle knot is not something that can only be squeezed or wrenched out (often times this can create more tissue damage). Accurate and appropriate pressure is infinitely better to use for massage. - Find a knot or trigger point aka: palpable taught band in the muscle (sometime you need to use your hands to find them or pinpoint your target) - slowly sink into the tissue so as to increase pressure moderately without allowing the knot to slip out from under the pressure - maintain moderate pressure and palpate (aka feel) around the taught band in order to get an idea of size and shape of the knot (visualize the knot as you treat it) - pressure should be firm but not uncomfortable, the goal is to relax the target muscle while applying accurate pressure to the knot - an alternative technique would be to do the same as above but slowly lengthen and shorten the muscle while applying the pressure to the taught band - a relaxed muscle with moderate/firm pressure on a trigger point or knot is able to neuromuscularly (kinda made that word up) decrease the resting tension of the muscle or "reset" to a more normal resting tension (this can take up to 90 seconds with continuous and accurate pressure) - Visualizing the muscle while you treat it and relaxing make a huge difference (anatomy pictures are worth looking at) - Periodically palate with your hand to reassess the size and shape of the knot - experiment with the vector direction of the force to find a different angle to treat the same muscle with - some knots or trigger points will seem to melt away with accurate and appropriate pressure, others with twitch and relax - some will seem to melt away from pressure and move to where you push them... follow the muscle and it's tension, it will tell you where to go next - some knots will feel big and general, explore these and find the most sensitive point of the muscle - some will refer pain to other areas of the bodyProbably the best money I have spent all year!I get persistent back and shoulder (around the blade) tension and it was impossible to get with just my fingers.This little beauty gets them all!I actually shaved off the point as I found that too painful and not I do not travel anywhere without it.If only it was a different color as because of the size and shape you get some really odd looks! :)I had hoped this would provide some trigger point work during my travels but not so. The item is smaller than depicted and as such unable to reach the midline of my (male) back. It has a rather odd knobbly bit sticking out which would fail to deliver any real pressure to the intended spot even if it didn't flex away under firm pressure, which it did. I sent it back.Great for the muscles at the very top of the back, the neck and the shoulders. Any lower down and you'll need something more substantial. But as long as you're buying this with the limitations in mind, there should be no problem. A steal at the price and allows for much greater pressure than you can hope for by hand.Really good for trigger point relief. Not so varied as it's big brother, but just perfect for the traps/rombhoids!Love it!!!I have seen similar bigger products and felt like trying one. This had the perfect size. I am not excited with the results but still, it is an easy when when you don't have a spare pair of hands available!