The benefits of massage therapy are well-known for both our physical and mental health. But is there much difference between the massage you can get from a massage therapist and a session in a massage chair? Many massage chair owners still enjoy regular appointments with a massage therapist, as each has its unique benefits. But today’s leading massage chair brands are designed to deliver an experience that’s as close to the real thing as possible — and a massage chair comes with some hard-to-beat perks.

The similarities between massage therapists and massage chairs are apparent, but what are their main differences? Beyond the most obvious difference of one being a human and the other being a machine, there are some key differences to consider when deciding which is suitable for you. Let’s break it down!

1. COST

Investing in a Floridian premium massage chair provides economic benefits over time. Using a typical example, a human massage costs about $75 to $80, and a tip is recommended. Assuming $100 per massage and one massage per week, this comes to $5,200 per year (not to mention if there are multiple family members whom all go to a massage therapist each month). In this case, an average Floridian Brand massage chair costing $8,000 will provide a return on the investment in less than two years.

This is quite compelling, considering a high-quality Floridian massage chair with a complimentary 5-year warranty will provide years of home massage. Notably, by owning your massage chair, you can afford to increase the frequency of massage therapy – and the cost justification is clear, particularly when you consider that receiving a high-quality massage at any time could lessen the amount you pay for medical care. Regular massage reduces stress, which has been shown to help alleviate the effects of many ailments and diseases.

2. TIME

With a human massage, you need to schedule an appointment. Having a massage chair at home, your “appointment” occurs anytime – or the moment you decide to sit down and press the power button. With this level of flexibility for massage therapy, you can alleviate the time demands you face already – from work and family obligations, exercise time, etc.

Regular massage becomes an integral part of the day with a Floridian massage chair – transforming massage therapy from a luxury into a necessity. With the burden of time alleviated, those 20 minutes in a massage chair increase the frequency of your quality time while enhancing your quality of life by triggering the feel-good hormones, keeping you relaxed, reducing pain, and helping to boost your immune system.

3. CONSISTENCY

Another significant difference between Floridian Brand massage chairs vs. authentic human massage is consistency. By default, a massage chair is consistent because its movements are programmed into the chair — it’s a robot. When you sit in a massage chair and get a massage, you know you will get the same massage the next time you sit in that massage chair.

A human, on the other hand, isn’t as consistent. Massage therapists have lives of their own: They can move away, quit their job, become injured, or have bad days like the rest of us. These factors can impact the effectiveness of your enjoyment of a massage. And perhaps the genuinely negative aspect of an authentic human massage is the chance of getting an ill-experienced masseur or masseuse.

4. CUSTOMIZABILITY

The ability of a massage therapist to customize her treatment is perhaps the most compelling case for human-powered massage. A massage therapist can assess her client’s needs on a case-by-case basis. While a massage chair may have six massage techniques, a massage therapist may have a hundred.

A Floridian Brand massage chair has programs and manual options to adjust settings like intensity and mechanism location. Meanwhile, a massage therapist uses her expertise to inform which techniques to use, when, and how much pressure to apply — constantly adjusting as she receives feedback from her client. This dynamic nature of an authentic massage just can’t be replicated. But that doesn’t mean massage chair manufacturers aren’t trying to.

Floridian Brand massage chairs offer body scanning that maps your back to detect your height, shape, and pressure points before automatically adjusting its rollers to give you a custom-fit massage.

Massage roller technology is also advancing with premium 3D and 4D massage chairs. With massage, the rollers not only move up and down and side to side but inward, applying pressure for deep tissue massage. While with 4D massage, the rollers have an additional movement: rhythm. Rhythm alternates the speed of the rollers — sometimes slow, sometimes fast — to simulate the dynamic speeds or rhythms you might experience with a masseuse.

CONCLUSION

Of course, you don’t have to choose between massage chairs and in-person massages, and many people enjoy both! But when it comes to convenience and cost-effectiveness, Floridian Brand massage chairs truly cannot be beaten. When comparing human massage vs. Floridian Brand massage chairs, BOTH benefits the body, mind, and overall well-being.