Patients love it, but don't expect it to last long.
Patient Satisfaction: 9 Clinical Utility: 6.5 Durability: 4
We've now put the variable speed Jeanie Rub massager through several years of testing. While patients melt like butter underneath the bone jarring vibrations, we have gone through three of these puppies in about 4 years!
Patient Satisfaction: 9 If you want something that will increase patient satisfaction, while warming up soft tissues for an adjustment, then this is a great tool. We had many patients ask where we got this machine, and how much it costs. Several of them actually bought one for their spouse as a sneaky gift with a tacit plea. Fortunately, the price tag is reasonable, so this is more of a consumer level piece of equipment.
Clinical Utility: 6.5 This does a nice job loosening up soft tissue, but don't expect it to really fix or cure any ailments. It isn't targeted enough or strong enough to do deep tissue fascial release, fix tendinitis, or the like. However, we think it's important to help the adjustments hold longer by relaxing the surrounding musculature, so for that reason, it is of moderate clinical utility.
Durability: 4 The manufacturer proudly displays a huge "Made in the USA" sticker on the top of the massager as if to say, "built to last, with only quality parts". Our experience has been much different. First, the paint on the handle chips away after a few months of use. Then, after about a year, on all THREE of the devices we've purchased, the motor and switch start to act up. By the end of 18-24 months they all die a slow and painful death. The good news is that you know it's coming, because you will notice a steady deterioration in performance over the months prior to the final death. Eventually, you turn the variable speed switch and nothing happens. Our typical use of the device was 4 days per week, 3-5 times per day, 1-3 minutes each. Again, this is a consumer level product, but not a clinical grade machine that will last you for years to come.
If you're OK with spending a couple hundred bucks every 1-2 years on this machine, then your patients will appreciate the massage it gives. Just know that it's a semi-disposable product. There was initially a two-speed version of this type of massager. Maybe that one has better luck with maintaining connections.
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