Me Time for Mummies – The Best of the Home Massage Chairs

It’s been a long time coming, a post like this. Alexander is 18 months old and I seemed to have more time for myself when I worked in the City and left home at 5.30 every morning. Even more so now as my little angel is going through a phase of waking up at 5am (actually 2.59 today- I then lay awake until 5ish when he eventually dropped off to sleep in our bed).

It’s really hard. At least I am finding it really hard and I have help too;  a lovely au pair, Cyrielle who is leaving us in a months time. I am working hard to replace her but I’ve been lucky too many times with au pairs and it’s getting progressively harder to find someone willing to give us a try. Granted, I am being quite demanding in my advert but expectations need to be managed from day one or else it will never work.

Anyway, I digress. I’m in need of a massage now actually. I’m pretty stressed, tired and have loads to do so instead of taking a break, for now I’ll just write about taking a break and take an actual one later.

I did a lot research into massage chairs. I wanted something that was good value, ie not a LaZBoy type reclining seat of the type you get in shopping centres in Asia. No, mine needed to be compact yet effective. It’s a minefield out there. You can spend up to £4000 if you have the money and the space (me neither!).

I also fancied the idea of a chair that offered a specific type of massage. Not just a general pummelling. At least that way you are led to believe that you are using specialist equipment. So, after much research on the internet, a visit to a friend’s house reinforced my number one choice. She is a doctor with severe back problems. A very thorough and neurotic doctor who I know wouldn’t go near a faddy piece of equipment. One visit to her house and a 10 minute stint in her Homedics massage chair and I was sold.

I contacted the company for more information. They are a global leader in massage and wellbeing products of the best quality and they distribute in more than 60 countries. I decided upon their all-singing, all-dancing SBM-600H model. It’s a full back and neck massager with shiatsu, rolling and heat options and it feels wonderful. There are 29 different settings (enough for even me!) and it also folds flat so can be kept under a bed, out of the way! In terms of the authenticity, I love my massages with strong pressure and I have been told in the past that I have very tight back and shoulder muscles. If you sit correctly in this chair then the relief is amazing. The heat is a lovely addition too-something you get rarely with most human massages unless you go somewhere with a heated table!

So, my recommendation for Best Massage Chair definitely goes to Homedics. The prices are reasonable too at around £150 ( some home massages cost £100!).  Also, as we are talking about electronics,  just a quick mention of a really clever product that was brought to my attention:  Something that I wished I had had when Alexander was a baby and definitely deserves an accolade is the Salter MiBaby Mother and Baby Scales. You get to weigh your baby whilst holding it! It also comes with software to chart your baby’s development, including height, WHO percentile growth charts and even dental records. So, it’s a visit to the clinic and dentist all in one if you like. In this day and age mothers want things to be close at hand and easier. No trek to the local health centre needed. So relax, sit back, and have a massage in the time you saved!