Massage Chair Buyer's Guide
A massage chair is a powerful tool for better health. But there are so many choices out there, it's easy to buy the wrong chair for your needs. This buyer's guide will help you decide what features are important to consider, and how to find the chair that's right for you.

Choosing Your Massage Chair
There is a lot of guess work in buying any product, but this manual will help take a lot of the guess work out of buying a massage chair. While there’s not a particular massage chair that is the definitely the best, there is a best massage chair for every buyer’s needs.

The price generally ranges from $2,000 to $6,000 and the price often but not always represents the quality of the chair. Introductory chairs are most often found at the lower end of the price range and top of the line models are at the upper end.

Things to keep in mind throughout your search:

Massage strength
Be sure that you can adjust the strength of a massage chair. Like many things, consumers build a tolerance to massages. A massage function that may be too strong for a first time user may be just right after several months of daily massage.

Many chairs also have removable foam padding that can help adjust the firmness of massage. Removable foam padding is an added bonus in massage chairs that offer it.

Preset and Manual Functions
There are two main ways a massage chair functions. A massage chair can function through preset massage functions that are already programmed into the chair or through manual functions set by the user. Top of the line chairs offer a variety of pre-set functions and customization options. If you have multiple users or like a variety of massages you want a chair that offers both options.

Accessories
Many massage chairs offer leg massage. Some massage chairs even massage the soles of your feet. Top of the line chairs have a foot massage that flips down in the reclining position for taller users.

Some positions are more comfortable for people with certain conditions. For instance sitting in a reclining position with legs elevated may be more comfortable for people with spinal stenosis. If you are purchasing a massage chair for spinal stenosis it is important to choose a chair with dual motor recline. A dual motor refers to a chair with a back rest and leg rest with separate motors.

Appearance
Massage chairs are made from a variety of materials and a range of designs. Some chairs use leather, while others use synthetic leather. Leather chairs often “sag” after they are stretched out by the rollers. You want to choose a chair that uses synthetic leather because it will retain its shape better and not tend to sag. Also, if you are buying a heated chair, repetitive heating will cause a leather chair to dry and crack.

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