Zero-Gravity and is a feature that a significant minority of massage chair models offer. Inspired by NASA, it’s a feature that sees the chair recline into a position where your knees are elevated slightly above your heart. Which leaves you sitting in the chair with a genuine feeling of weightlessness.

Getting a massage in this position has a number of benefits. This is including the fact that it will help promote better blood flow, lower your blood pressure and promote faster healing after surgery. In a nutshell, it just makes for a better-quality massage that will leave you feeling better

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Airbags are bladders embedded in massage chairs that, at the touch of a button, can be filled with air then deflated in pulses. 

Most massage chairs offer airbags allowing the person sitting in the chair the opportunity to adjust the intensity of the massage rendered by airbags.

Air massage is compression-based and is rendered by squeezing, holding, then releasing the extremities targeted by the massage. Inflating and deflating the airbags slowly can simulate a kneading or rolling technique while cycling rapidly between inflation/deflation can simulate a basic tapping massage.

A human massage therapist is capable of rendering dozens of different types of massages. In fact, there are more than two hundred different techniques available. The vast majority of chairs on the market today, however, stick to a handful of basic techniques.

Here are the most common massage techniques you’ll find on the market today:

Tapping:

As the name indicates, this massage utilizes the rollers (or, in some cases, rapidly inflating/deflating airbags) a bit like little-cushioned hammers, tapping specific points on your back. It’s a good massage technique to select if you’ve got stiff muscles or poor blood circulation. It can also be used to break up scar tissue, making it a solid choice for people who have undergone surgeries. Note that tapping is often called percussive massage.

Rolling:

 Imagine a rolling pin laying against your spine, then rolling gently but firmly away from it. Focusing on the muscles there, while simultaneously moving up and down the length of your spine. That’s a rolling massage. It’s a great warm-up for some other massage program and is ideal for loosening tight back muscles.

Kneading: 

A series of lifting and stretching motions to gently knead the tension out of the muscles in your back, neck, and shoulders. This is generally accomplished by the rollers moving in small circular motions up and down the length of your spine along with other pressure points in your body.

Shiatsu:

The three techniques described above are considered basic massage techniques and appear in virtually all massage chairs. Most high-quality massage chairs offer at least one advanced technique, and this is the most common one.

It’s a Japanese technique, and the word translates as “finger pressure.” It works by pressing, then stretching and rotating. This is remarkably effective at relieving muscle tension and can leave you feeling restored and refreshed. It not only works to relieve muscle pain, but can also be used to alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression.

Swedish:

This technique is only rarely seen on massage chairs but is always a welcome addition when it’s present. It relies on long, swirling massage strokes to break up muscle tension and improve circulation. Note that our chairs offer a “deep tissue” massage which is essentially a more robust variant of the traditional Swedish massage. This variant is ideal for people who suffer from chronic pain.

Vibration:

This was the go-to massage “technique” offered in the very first massage chairs. You’ll still find a few chairs offering a vibration style massage.

 Some people swear by it, claiming that it helps to foster better circulation. On the whole, we’ve found that people either love it or despise it. It’s worth experimenting with to see which camp you fall into.

Airbag (Compression) 

 If you have a massage chair with airbags, you can activate them to get an airbag massage. It’s rendered as the chair inflates and deflates the airbags in selected areas. Feels like someone with giant hands gently squeezing and releasing the muscles. Its primary purpose is to gently relieve stress and improve blood circulation. It can also help stimulate your body’s lymphatic system, making it more efficient and effective at removing toxins.

Since the massage chair is basically a computer you can sit in, the airbags can be programmed to inflate and deflate rapidly. Which can approximate a tapping-style massage, and some massage chair models offer this feature.

Body Stretching

While not technically a massage style, some companies list it as such, so we’re including it here for the sake of completeness. Stretching is accomplished by the chair’s airbags holding you in place as the chair itself slowly reclines, holds, and then returns to its default position. This has the same basic effect that a chiropractic adjustment does. Also a great way to warm up to another, more robust massage, or cool down after a hard day’s work.

In a Massage Chair the ottoman is simply to provide a platform to rest your feet on as you lean back in the chair. However the ottoman does much more than that.

Most (but not all) of the massage chairs on the market today offer an ottoman. These invariably feature leg massage ports. When you sit in the chair, you slide your legs into the ports, and the airbags in the leg ports will activate. Giving you a soothing calf and foot massage

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Rollers took the place of stationary massage heads, which were found in the very first models of massage chairs and can still be found in a few models today.

Whatever form they take, in the overwhelming majority of massage chairs on the market today, it is the rollers that render the primary massage of the chair. Most chairs also offering some number of airbags to provide a secondary means of rendering a massage.

Have you ever paid a visit to your local chiropractor to get an adjustment? If so, you know in a nutshell how stretching works in a massage chair. Body stretching seeks to do the same thing as a chiropractic adjustment. As such, it can provide almost immediate relief to those suffering from certain forms of chronic back pain.

In terms of executing the body stretch, the process works like this:

For Example: You sit in the chair and select the body stretch routine from your massage chair’s menu.

-The airbags in the chair inflate. While holding you firmly in position by the arms and legs as the chair reclines back.

-Gradually increasing the pressure on your spine, then releasing.

There are two primary ways that heat therapy is incorporated into massage designs. The simplest and most straightforward of these involves heating elements. A few chairs use far-infrared technology to provide the heat.

You’ll find heat in slightly less than half of the massage chairs on the market today. Most commonly, when heat is offered, it’s limited to the lumbar area of the seatback.

Heat therapy in a massage chair works just like it does in a heating pad. Except of course that it is combined with a massage program, which enhances the overall massage experience. The idea is to raise the temperature of a painfully sore part of your body. Which increases blood flow, and thus oxygen to that area.

While heat therapy is a fantastic addition to any massage chair, we recommend using it for no more than twenty minutes at a time before giving your body a break.

Zero Gravity Massage Chairs

An S-Track is a massage track in a modern massage chair that is S-shaped to follow the natural curve of your body’s spine. While the track length varies some from one model to the next, the basic idea behind an S-Track is to render a massage that begins at your neck and extends down your torso to the base of your spine.

An L-Track is a massage track in a modern massage chair that is L-Shaped. As with an S-Track chair, the massage track starts at your neck and follows the natural curve of your back down to the base of your spine. From there, the track turns, creating an “L” shape, and travels under the seat to render a massage to your glutes and the backs of your thighs.

The idea behind the term was to describe the fact that an L-Track massage is also (by definition) an S-Track. When the L-Track was first introduced, people didn’t understand right away what it was and what it meant, and our best guess is that this terminology was a good way to combined the new track type to something that people were already familiar with.

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There are no right or wrong answers here.

There’s nothing harmful about getting a massage, so enjoy one as often as you like. The worst thing that will happen is that you’ll feel a lot more relaxed, and might get a better night’s sleep. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

Having said that, we will issue a general word of caution:

If you’re in chronic pain, and have a deep-tissue massage chair capable of aggressive body stretching, you’ll probably want to limit your use of those specific features.

The best advice we can give here is to listen to your body. A massage or body stretch shouldn’t leave you feeling worse after than you felt before. If it does, you’ve got the intensity settings cranked up too high. You should then give your body a rest before dialing the settings back and trying again.