Spoonk Acupressure Massage Mat

 

Disclaimer: I received the following item, the magenta economy Spoonk mat, from Spoonk Space in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own unless otherwise specified.

While I’m afraid of needles and couldn’t really do acupuncture (I’d likely die of an anxiety attack if I even tried!!) I have tried do acupressure by pressing and holding acupressure points as I’ve found online. Sometimes it works, other times I just sit there awkwardly pressing points and looking strange for nothing to happen but sore fingers. Ugh…

So, I was pretty thrilled when I came across Spoonk Space as their acupressure mats. See, I’ve considered getting one of these in the past but… what good is a mat with what I thought was floppy little pressure points? It wasn’t going to do any good. Right?

Ohh.. my… goodness. I could not have been more wrong about those little pressure nibs.

See them above? These little guys are INTENSE, strong little buggers that unless you’re used to them are pretty much going to hurt and feel crazy strange at first.

While they recommend that you let them press against bare skin, there is no way I was ready or am still even close to ready for that. I can lay on top of a sheet (nothing fancy, just a cotton sheet…) and do okay putting my bare skin on it that way.. but that was just for doing my back and neck areas.

I would also like to take a moment and issue a word of caution, if you’re laying on an acupressure mat to relax… don’t lay there with your arms up and your tablet above your head playing on it. Seriously, it caused some pretty severe agony. Also, try and do this type of thing at a time where your 9 year old (or anyone) WONT be coming in and asking you or telling you something every 2-3 minutes. There’s no relaxing on a bed of plasticy ‘nails’ if you’ve got people bugging you.

Still, if you’ve got 30 minutes you can spare laying on your back, the Spoonk Mat really can offer some wonderful relief to your back pain. Even at my heavy weight I manage to settle in after a few minutes and the stimulation points help sooth tense muscles and are pretty relaxing.

Here is a little bit about the cotton Spoonk Mat, which is what I have:

First developed in Sweden, accupressure mats provide an easy way to enjoy at home relief from stress and tension. The Spoonk™ Mat helps the body release endorphins through pressure from the mat’s discs. They may stimulate specific reflex points throughout the body to release blocked energy, ease tense muscles and create deep mental and physical relaxation.

Spoonk™ Mats are made of all natural materials:

Cover:

• 100% cotton
• No synthetic AZO dyes

Eco Foam:

• High quality Plant Based foam made VPF  technology
• No Fire Retardant Chemicals (PBDE and CFS)
• No toxic off-gassing chemicals

Stimulation Points:

• Recyclable nontoxic ABS Plastic
• Heat pressure – no adhesive glue
• 6,210 stimulation points for optimal effect
• Original design of crown-shaped discs

Size: 67cm x 42 cm (26.5 ‘” x 16.5″)
Eco foam made in the USA.
Assembled in Canada.
High Quality FDA Certified

Now, I really did try and follow the instructions and do a few different things with the mat so far. I’ve used it under my back, under my legs, over my legs, under my arms, over my arms, curled up and behind my neck and head and have done great with it!

But it wasn’t until I tried the ‘put on socks and stand on the mat’ thing suggested in the little booklet that I felt agony. Perhaps my socks weren’t thick enough, or perhaps it was just the pressure of all my weight bearing down on this mat of spikes that made it too much to bear. I really did want to be able to stand and make my eyes look back and forth and then up and down to try and do some deep stuff to help with relaxation. But after going side to side 20 times, I was crying from the pain and had to give up.

I had little dotted pressurey stuff in my feet for a couple hours afterward. Errm… ouch.

Over all? Awesome and I love the relaxation everything BUT the standing on the feet one. >.> Which… maybe I can attempt when I weigh a good 100lbs less than I do now. Until then… agony is not welcome any more than I already feel it.

Have you tried acupressure before? What about acupuncture?