The Good News:

The avalanche started when Dr. Brent Bauer at the Mayo Clinic broke the news that he was leading the team to develop a Massage Therapy Program in order to improve the health of many of their patients. He reported that there are thousands of case studies and evidence which shows how beneficial massage therapy can be for the human body. It is possibly the best natural remedy to reducing pain and it provides all the daily stretches that the body needs. Massage chair sales have since skyrocketed, and almost instantly have become a pain, stress, and health improving phenomenon. Everyone from WebMd to newspapers such as USA Today and even the Huffington Post has touted its effectiveness.

The Bad News:

Since then, everyone and their uncle have started selling their own massage chairs. Because of this, many problems have occurred. Many companies are pushing out massage chairs as fast as possible just to make a buck. Some of the problems include serious structural problems, like massage chairs with leather so thin that the air bags tear after one year of normal use. Some chairs only massage the sides of your feet because the massage chair has no rollers at the bottom to massage the bottom of your feet. Some companies claim their chairs have body scanning capabilities, but when you click on "neck massage," the chair improperly scans you and massages your back. Because of how poorly some of these chairs are made, many massage chair companies that we have reviewed are just a complete waste of time and money. By getting a poorly made chair, you will not get any of the medical benefits that a good massage can provide. So before we go further, we will detail exactly what a good massage chair can do for you.

Why Are So Many People Getting Massages
& What Exactly Can A Good Massage Chair Do For You?
According to the AMTA, 69% of all doctors recommends and encourage their patients to get massages. That's over 569,940 doctors that says massages can be very helpful to your health. Also, 39.1 million adult Americans do end up getting a massage. Because of how popular massages really are, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over 168,800 jobs are available in massage therapy with demand growing "much faster than average." They even expect jobs for massage therapists to grow by 22% every year for the next decade.

So why are so many people getting massages?

There are literally hundreds of reasons, but you can see a few in the chart below:

Buyers Beware

With hundreds of no-name chairs and fly-by-night companies out there, it can get very hard to choose the right massage chair for Christmas. Some companies claim their chairs are customizable and have leg extensions to adjust to your height. But when you get one of these chairs, you have to use your feet to push the foot massager outwards and hold it in place if you are taller. The leg extension doesn't stay in place, so you have to literally hold it in place. How can you enjoy a massage if you have to hold your feet in a certain position the entire time? These chairs are very poorly made, and they are made quickly so the companies can try and sell them fast in order to capitalize on the craze. Since we want to help you avoid all of these issues when getting a massage chair, we’ve spent 3 years thoroughly investigating the top 100 massage chairs on the market before we recommended our readers to spend any money. In addition to studying massage chairs, we’ve interviewed hundreds of consumers and people using them and found that many of them had the same concerns we’ve had when buying massage chairs.

1. There aren't any medical benefits. Many of the massage chairs that we’ve tested did a horrible job massaging and they provided no medical benefits whatsoever. What's the point of spending thousands of dollars on a massage chair if it doesn't provide medical benefits? Some companies say they are reviewed by doctors but when you ask which doctor or where the doctor's office is, they don't give you an answer. Legitimate manufacturers like the Medical Breakthrough Massage Chairs will have the name of the actual doctors listed on their website for everyone to see. If there are no doctors, then any of the medical benefits claimed on their site are false. To get on our chart, the massage chairs must have actual doctors that we can verify.

2. Some companies are selling white and red massage chairs that are popular in China but horribly designed for the US market. China loves red, so if you see a lot of red or white used, it's probably a Chinese chair. We have also been receiving many emails of white Chinese massage chairs that get dirty easily and when you try to clean it a few times, the white leather tears apart. White massage chairs get dirty fast which is why you need a massage chair with the highest quality leather if you want a white chair. Most companies don't make white massage chairs because they get too many returns. If you buy a white Chinese leather chair and the leather rips open because you have to clean it every week, you were not fortunate enough to find our report before purchasing a white massage chair. Be careful of white massage chairs from China that fall apart after a few cleanings.

3. Some companies offer massage chairs as low as $1000, but when you do a little searching on the internet, you can find that same chair from China for just $300. These chairs do not massage your arms, legs, feet, neck or shoulders. It only massages your back, and often does more harm than good. A cheap massage chair from China that just massages your back in circles is not the same as a top-of-the-line, hand-tailored, medical-grade chair; engineered by Medical Doctors, Yale University Chiropractors, Stanford University Massage Therapists, Physical Therapists, and Pain Specialists.

You are only buying one massage chair for your entire life, because that's all you need. That's why it's important to always compare the features to make sure you're buying the most powerful chair, and one that can actually heal your body.

4. Be careful of companies that are offering FREE gifts to get you to buy their chairs. Most of the gifts are cheap gifts that come from China. Some companies will give you a pillow massage that they say sells for $300 if you buy their massage chair, but when you do a little research you find the pillow massager is a cheap $25 item from China that doesn't work very well. Always check to make sure you are getting the best massage chair for the price. Don't be fooled by cheap gifts from China.

5. Some companies are lying about what's included in their chairs. As of December 2024, the Medical Breakthrough 8 is the only massage chair in the world that has 167 air cells, the Chropratic BodyTwist™ Technology that twist your body from one side to the next and the Human Hands Massage System™  that massages you like a real massage therapist in your own home. What some companies are doing is adding these proprietary features to their site without putting check marks next to them and just listing them as available so you think it's included but it's really not. When you get the massage chair and it does not perform a Chiropractic BodyTwist, they tell you it was not checked on their site, it was just listed. Be careful of companies that try to deceive you. These features were invented by Medical Breakthrough and are currently only available on the Medical Breakthrough 8 series massage chair.

6. It is going to be TOO expensive. Some high-tech massage chairs sell for well over $35,000 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. We understand futuristic massage chairs may be expensive but $35,000 is just too much for a massage chair in your home. Any massage chair we recommend must be very affordable.

How We Investigated the Major Massage Chairs

We spent an enormous amount of money purchasing different massage chairs everywhere; from online sites, to brick and mortar stores, to small little shops; if it was a popular massage chair then we purchased it. We wanted to help you save money and a lot of hassle so you don't have to spend a fortune buying them, and we wanted to find out which ones worked and which ones didn't. We asked our board of doctors to thoroughly review each chair carefully, and check their claims for the medical truth and evidence to support what they were advertising is true. We navigated the internet, for what was thought by consumers to be the best of the best, and we gathered every single review we could find on various massage therapists, doctors, chiropractors and consumers who had personally purchased massage chairs in the past.

1. Third Party Quality Inspections: The easiest way to find out if a company is genuine or not is to see if they have had a Third Party Quality Inspection. Third Party Quality Inspection means that an independent company puts the massage chair through rigorous endurance testing, just like they do with the iPhone, to make sure the chair is made to last. This is extremely important because you don't want to buy a chair and have it break down in a year. You also don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a massage chair technician because there isn't that many around, and the ones that can fix your massage chair are not only hard to find but pretty expensive. These Third Party Quality Inspectors also monitor the company's reputation and accurately track each customer satisfaction experience and warranty issue. All of the criteria they measure are very important to our review. We will never recommend any company that has a bad reputation or customer service or sells massage chairs without putting them through a Third Party Quality Inspection.

2. True Risk Free Money Back Guarantee. We only recommend companies that offer a true risk free money back guarantee. This means that when we ask for a refund, the money is quickly refunded to us in full without much hassle. If it is hard to get our money back, we shouldn't buy the massage chair in the first place.

3. Massage Chair with Actual Medical Benefits. There is no point spending any money if the massage chair does not provide you with any medical benefits. Each massage chair we recommend must have lots of medical benefits that are verified and signed off by a licensed medical doctor. If there is no proof that the chair was verified by a medical doctor, they will not be on our chart. Many of the companies selling cheaper massage chairs have never had their chairs used in any clinical studies to see if using it daily helps or hurts your body. There is a major difference between a medical grade massage chair and a cheap no-name brand massage chairs. Cheap massage chairs do not work the same and may even harm your body. On the other hand, a medical grade massage chair that has been used in documented studies and found to be beneficial to your health can do wonders for you.

How We Decided Who Gets On Our Chart

To make sure our readers get the very best product; we make it very hard to get to be #1 on our chart. We do not want to waste our readers time, and only want to recommend the highest quality massage chair. Our reputation is very important to us. To be # 1 on our chart, the massage chair must meet all of the requirements below.

1. The company must be trustworthy and have integrity. Although some companies say their chairs are made in Japan, when we investigate whether they have a factory in Japan, there isn't any. This actually happens very often. What's worst is some companies lie about having endorsed doctors. They post that their chairs are made by a medical doctor but when we ask them which doctor, they lie about the name and when we actually investigate the doctor, there really is no doctor. So trustworthiness and integrity are extremely important to us. Just be honest with us.

2. The company must have a good reputation. This is extremely important. Some companies haven't learned all their lessons yet and they argue with customers after they get their money. This is a major red flag. We understand problems do occur and once in a long while, a quality chair will break down. As long as they follow their warranty and handle all customer issues in a timely manner, while keeping customers happy, we are happy. To get on our list, the company must have a superior reputation and do everything they can to keep all of their customers stay happy.

3. It must pass our endurance test! We test and retest each massage chair constantly to make sure they meet our endurance standards. This is for your peace of mind – and it is part of our commitment to helping you find the finest quality massage chair available. This helps to ensure product safety – and quality. These labs meet stringent standards – you can use your massage chair with complete peace of mind, knowing that it will do wonders for your health.

4. It must be customizable to fit any height. Some people are 4 feet 10 inches while others are 7 feet 8 inches tall. Everyone is different and the massage chair must able to adjust to your height easily. That means that you don't have to hold your feet in a certain position just because you’re taller. The chair must be able to fit you comfortably whether you are 4 feet or 8 feet tall.

5. The massage chair must have at least 5 different levels of intensity. Some massage chairs only have 2 levels of intensity; Light and strong, and their strong isn't very good. Some people like light massages, while others love extreme deep tissue massages. If you're use to strong massages and the chair is too light for you, it would be a horrible experience. That's why we test the chair fully so that it can do a light massage for a 90-year-old woman and a strong one for a man in his 30s.

6. The massage chair must be 100% safe to use. The chair must be safe for everyone to use. From a child to a 90-year-old lady, we do not want the chair to harm anyone.

7. It must be used by doctors and shown to provide medical benefits in the documented studies, which is extremely important. Never buy cheap massage chairs that do nothing for your body and may actually harm your body. The only way we know our massage chair works is because we had our boards of doctors perform documented studies on them and see if the chair had any real medical benefits. There is no point in spending any money if the massage chair does not provide you with any medical benefits. To get on our list, the massage chair must dramatically improve your health.

What our Investigation Uncover

My goodness, what we found when we began this project! Companies stating they had massage chairs endorsed by doctors that don’t even exist! Companies that said their chairs were made in Japan but there were no actual factories in Japan making them. It was a horrendous discovery. Our investigation found that you should avoid most massage chairs on the market. Some were so bad that they did not meet most of what we were looking for. They failed 70% of our requirements and only passed one or two of the items on our checklist. Many sold cheap massage chairs that break down after a year and provide no medical benefits for your body.

However, out of hundreds of bad massage chairs, we found a few that were outstanding. They were so good they met every single item on our checklist and much more. These were the true all stars and their performance was unbelievable. Because of their high quality, they superseded most of our expectations. Although there was only a few that got on our chart, they were truly amazing.

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