I’m 21 years old and shoe horses for a living. I’ve been getting stiff in my low back and neck pain. When I wake up in the morning I can’t turn my head or look up very well. When I do my stretches, I struggle with the “mermaid pose”; while trying to extend my arms and stretch my abs it feels like I’m about to pinch a nerve in my back. It’s started to concern me because I’m young, but I don’t want to pay a bunch of money for chiropractors and massages.
I had first heard of acupressure mats from a Shakti ad. It looked really nice but I could justify the price. In the past few weeks my pain has gotten worse so I figured I’d give it a try. Still couldn’t justify the price so I checked Amazon. When I saw the spikes on this mat I knew it had to be good. I checked many reviews to see if it would work for me. The 2 and 3 star reviews of people saying it hurt too bad made me want it that much more.
I’ve had the mat for 4 days now. The first day I laid on it for about 3 minutes. It was very painful and my sister thought I was crazy. Each day I’ve laid on it a little longer. Last night. I laid on it for 15 minutes. Here’s the general timeline for what I’ve felt: 0 minutes you’ve just laid on the mat it’s so painful it takes your breath away and your hands and feet are weak. 2-2.5 minutes you start to feel the numbing sensation, the pain is way more tolerable, and you can relax your muscles and sink in a little more. 4.5-5 minutes your back gets very warm, a wave of calm comes over you, and you feel like you can lay on it as long as you want. About 10 minutes I started to feel my pulse in my back and I was completely relaxed and calm.
After laying on the mat for 10 minutes I have incredible range of motion in my neck and back. I can look side to side and all the way up with no discomfort. My back feels incredible. As soon as I got off the mat I checked with the mermaid pose and I stretched further than I have in probably a couple years. I was overjoyed. The calming sensation is also really nice. Totally a stress reliever.
Initially I tried it with a shirt on and it did nothing so I went straight to bareback. Let me reiterate… THE FIRST TWO MINUTES HURT! If it doesn’t hurt it’s not working, in my opinion. Also, I put it on the floor so the only cushioning is what comes in the mat. What I wanted was a meat tenderizer for my muscles and that’s what I got. I couldn’t be happier with this thing.
Another thing to mention. I saw several reviews of people saying it’s too small. I’m 5’10” and the spikes cover my whole back. I do use the neck pillow as well so there’s a strip at the top of my shoulders that doesn’t make contact with any spikes, but that isn’t what I’m targeting anyway. But for $20, you can move around on the mat if you want to target different areas it’s not that big of a deal.
TLDR: Buy it. It’s cheap and it works. Painful at first and then warm and tingly after 2 minutes. You will feel amazing at 10 minutes. Greatly helped my back and neck pain and mobility. Great stress reliever.