Adventures In Massaging Traction
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For most of my adult life, I’ve suffered from frequent headaches related to neck/shoulder tension and spine alignment problems.
I’ve partaken of various therapies, with the most successful being a combination of monthly visits to a really excellent chiropractor, frequent use of ibuprofen, and occasional use of a prescription muscle relaxer. I’m now moving a few hundred miles away from my chiropractor and won’t be seeing her much, about which I am quite sad. And my neck is sad also. My neck expresses sadness by giving me more headaches.
But! A new solution has presented itself. I’ve been seeing the ads on YouTube for something called the Thera Pillow by a company called Callixe. One can get this pillow on Amazon or on the company’s website. The premise is that the two-part pillow has a rounded section that goes under the neck to promote proper curvature and a flatter section that goes under the head.
The pillow does three things: it provides heat; it provides a varying massage; and it provides gentle intermittent traction on the neck. These all seemed like good things to me, and as pain pushes me to make quick decisions, I bought a pillow and tried it out.
It is just phenomenal. It’s got a rechargeable battery, and I can get about 30 minutes of all three modes before the pillow runs out of juice. After just a few uses, I’ve found that a chronic stiffness that makes it hard to turn my head far enough to the left to look over my shoulder (for example, when I’m trying to check my blind spot while driving) has almost completely gone away. I confess, I didn’t expect that much change so quickly.
Also, I am astonishingly relaxed after use, which makes it easier and more comfortable to go to sleep. Surprisingly, it also drops my blood pressure, which at my age is a good thing! I’ve been able to cut way back on my ibuprofen use, and haven’t needed a muscle relaxer since I got the pillow.
Two caveats: First, the thing isn’t quiet. It makes as much noise as you’d expect a massager to make. I’ve decided I can live with the noise in trade for the benefits. Second, it gets QUITE warm. Some might find it uncomfortably warm, in which case, you just drape a towel over it before you lay on it. Problem solved. Also, the towel will keep your skin and hair oil off the device, which is all to the good.
The thing does have a couple zippers that allow you to take out the innards to wash the outer shell, but I’m uninclined to try that, given that I’m just not confident I’d get all the active layers back inside properly.
I’m very happy with this pillow, so if you have chronic neck pain or headaches from neck tension, I recommend you consider giving this a try.
