Looking to buy a massage chair requires more than visiting a shop and sitting in a bunch of different chairs. To make to most of your trip, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the key components to look for in a new massage chair. Knowing your needs as well as restrictions, such as budget, is also a good idea.

Three key things that differentiate massage chairs are massage functions, upholstery, and physical design. Other variations are less obvious and you have to carefully read the specifications to learn the little but important things about the chair.

Most chairs come with rolling, kneading, tapping and percussions. These are the most important massage functions built into every massage chair of every price range. More expensive chairs offer an extension to these functions as well as the option to combine functions to be performed at the same time or in specific sequences.

Massage techniques also vary in their range of speeds and intensity of these functions. More advanced chairs can perform a wider range of speeds and intensities while the most basic chair might offer just a few functions and a single speed and no distinction in intensity.

The material of upholstery usually is used by manufacturers to distinguish the premium lines from the budget lines. Leather and leathermatch will cost more and tend be packaged with other fancy features of high end chairs while cloth and microfiber will be a staple of budget chairs.

The design of the chair is important to many and for good reason. Since they tend to be bulky, most people keep them in their living room and it serves double purpose as a lounge chair. For that reason, it’s not uncommon for the look of the chair to be a deal breaker or maker. However, there are also chairs that come with rollers so they can be tilted, rolled, and tucked away when not in use.

But there is an even more important factor in play with physical design and that is the comfort the chair provides. A chair with puffy looking cushions can deceive you into thinking it is more comfortable to lounge in than it really might be. Some chairs are designed with removable layers of padding so you can adjust it to the right level of comfort.

In the end, the most important factor in buying a chair is finding the most comfortable massage chair. After all the differences, remember that what you’re looking for is something to relax in. Make it something you look forward to at the end of the day.

Tags: equipment, Fitness, furniture, health, massage, massage chair, massage therapy, physical therapy, relaxation

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 13th, 2009 at 7:20 am and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.