Scholl DR0001

...eventually decided to purchase a Scholl DR001UK for 30 quid from Amazon. My reasons were basically that it was fairly cheap, small enough to be portable, it had car and mains adaptors and the Scholl name seems to be fairly reliable.

It arrived within a couple of days (which is surprising as the Amazon is a LONG way away! hoho)
I first decided to try it in my car as my partner and I were due to take a long trip down to that London. ...
...each day and the difference when I arrived was very noticeable.

The massage cushion has adjustable elastic straps which easily secure it to any chair or car seat. It causes no discomfort when you rest back in the chair as it is all well padded and cushioned although you can sometimes feel the infra red heat pads. (This is a plus for me as my Audi seat has a ridge of material that makes it uncomfortable to sit in wearing thin material ... more

In the (slightly misquoted) words of The Beach Boys:
''Scholls giving me Good Vibrations!''

Readers of my Lay-Z-Boy Cool Chair review will know that I suffer from back pain and that using the built in massage function has helped alleviate this. That’s all well and good when I’m at home but unfortunately I spend 6 months of the year working away at sea so I’ve been looking for a portable alternative.

My sports therapist suggested a Tens machine (electrical impulses to stimulate the muscles I think), and someone else suggested using a rolled up towel under my spine lying on the floor and rolling up and down to gain relief. The towel method works ok but isn’t suitable to use in my everyday work environment and I haven’t got round to trying the Tens machine yet.

The thing that I did come across was the back massage cushion. A few months ago I searched on the web and eventually decided to purchase a Scholl DR001UK for 30 quid from Amazon. My reasons were basically that it was fairly cheap, small enough to be portable, it had car and mains adaptors and the Scholl name seems to be fairly reliable.

It arrived within a couple of days (which is surprising as the Amazon is a LONG way away! hoho)
I first decided to try it in my car as my partner and I were due to take a long trip down to that London. It worked a treat. I drove for about 4 hours each day and the difference when I arrived was very noticeable.

The massage cushion has adjustable elastic straps which easily secure it to any chair or car seat. It causes no discomfort when you rest back in the chair as it is all well padded and cushioned although you can sometimes feel the infra red heat pads. (This is a plus for me as my Audi seat has a ridge of material that makes it uncomfortable to sit in wearing thin material like t-shirts.)
It is made of high quality, water resistant material and is available in any colour you like, as long as it’s blue.

The controller is simple to use and is located in its’ own pocket on the right side of the cushion. There are 3 controls: 1 for each of the 2 massage areas – upper and lower, and 1 for the infra red heat function. The heat control is either on or off and the massagers have 2 speed settings you can adjust individually to give the following combinations:

Heat only
Heat and slow lower massage
Heat and medium lower massage
Heat and slow upper massage
Heat and medium upper massage
Heat and slow full back massage
Heat and medium full back massage
Slow lower massage
Medium lower massage
Slow upper massage
Medium upper massage
Slow full back massage
Medium full back massage

I decided to take this product to work with me and I have used it for many hours every day. I do 12 hour shifts and often will spend long periods sitting down watching computer screens so after a 5 week hitch my lower back tends to be locked solid. It takes the 5 weeks that I’m at home for it to go back to normal with lots of care and deep tissue massage. At the end of my last trip away I arrived home in much better shape than usual. My partner noticed it and my therapist commented that my back wasn’t as tight as usual!

Since then I have purchased 2 more of these products, 1 for my car and 1 for an elderly relative with severe back pains. I’m back at work again and have one with me now. I’m actually sitting here now enjoying a pleasant warmth and a lovely vibrating sensation as I type this.

Another advantage I’ve found is that during long haul flights, of which I do a lot, it’s sometimes possible to plug the cushion into a power point and use it on the plane. It depends which airline you fly with and where you are sitting, but I know that Emirates flights have power points in economy now. It really helps on a 10 hour flight!

A note of caution though. They do recommend that you only use it for 15 minutes at a time and there is no built in timer, as there is in other massage products that I have tried. You just need to turn it off every now and then.

I bought my last 2 items through Amazon for around 13 pounds each which is a bargain!
If you have back problems I’d recommend one for your car or office and even if you don’t have pain I’d still get one, because at these prices it’d be daft not to!
 

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