I am not much of a review writer so this happens to be my first one.
Why start now, you ask?
Because I finally found a massager that did something that all the other (non percussion) massage products could not.
Let me give you some background about me first.
I am dad and husband first and foremost, but an avid bicyclist most of the rest of the time. I average about 100+ miles per week with an average speed of around 18 – 20 mph.
For the last 2 or 3 years now, my calves have started getting very, tight and painful (and that’s very with a capital V). I’ve had other leg problems through out the years, pulled muscles, shin splints and even a dislocated patella so I thought the tightness in my calves was just part of biking… or getting old – I am 45 years old.
In search of relief I’ve tried many different therapies including hot baths, manual massage, rollers/gadgets and a regular electric massager (not percussive). Though the electric massager felt good, it could not break up the knots in my calves.
I happened to run into a buddy of mine, who is a semi-pro body builder (and on again/off again wrestler) and talked to him about the tightness in my calves.
He told me that he had not had that particular problem but maybe all the swimming he did made the knots go away.
He said calves need to be flexible as this was tantamount (he used the word tantamount) to relieving back pain.
He suggested regular weekly massages (and maybe some swimming), which sounded like a great idea but at $60 bucks a pop and three kids to feed was a very unlikely solution.
I know there are machines out there dedicated to feet and calves, but the reach on them is limited and the ones I found didn’t go high enough up my calves… and I am only 5 ‘8 “. In addition to the limitations, they run in the neighborhood of $300 dollars or more.
My first introduction to percussion massage was in a Brookstone catalog, percussive massage… interesting concept.
I did a little homework on percussive massage, and found much to read about but not much was ever said about calves and percussion massagers. Some of the websites even had videos, but none of them demonstrated the massager addressing the calves.
Reading reviews from Amazon and other massage forums it was clear to see that Thumper massagers came out ahead in just about every category as the best one for the money.
It got to the point where I was in pain just walking around the house so in a last ditch effort to avoid going to the doctor or some kind of sports physical therapist, I bought the Thumper Sport.
Long story short, it’s amazing.
I’ve owned it for about a month now and I have to admit that the first couple of days of use seemed to produce no lasting results but boy did it feel good.
After about a week I noticed an appreciable difference in the flexibility (and pain level) of my calves and after about two weeks of using this percussive massager every day the pain in my lower legs totally stopped and my calves became flexible again.
It’s still hard to believe that after years of pain and loss of mobility (I couldn’t point my toes straight down) percussive massage was all I needed.
The Thumper massager is awesome and I will continue using it – forget the regular massager… total waste of money.
I use my Sport religiously, every 2 days for about 10 minutes on my feet, calves, thighs, back and even the palms of my hands.
