Over the last few months, I’ve really been struggling with pain in my foot, so I decided I needed to try everything I could to try and alleviate some of the pain. I ordered the HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat on a bit of a whim in all honesty, which is so unlike me. Usually when I want to buy anything technical, I search for hours looking for reviews and videos to help me decide what to buy.
HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat
I have had Achilles tendonitis in my right foot for over ten years now, and if that isn’t painful enough, I have developed plantar fasciitis in the same foot in the last three years, so putting my foot flat on the floor is agony and the pain is just getting worse. I’ve been given orthotics for my shoe, tried gels and creams, heat, rest, strapping – everything basically. You name it, I’ve tried it. Ideally I’d have a full size massage chair in my house, but I don’t the room for it, but should I ever have the room for one, I’d shop now via this link.
I’ve been offered a steroid injection into the plantar but the idea of someone injecting my bottom of my foot makes me want to heave, so I’ve been trying all of the alternative therapies to see if I can get some relief.
I have been a fan of the HoMedics fan for some time now, and raved about the HoMedics Stretch XS Mat here on my blog back in December, so I decided to try one of their foot massagers in the hope that they might actually help.
HoMedics have four different foot massager products, and I wasn’t sure what I needed, but I was looking for something that would help alleviate some of the pain in the soles of my foot, and also across the bridge of my foot so it looked like the HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat was the best option.
The HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat is £149.99 which is super pricey, but it’s a big technical device so it’s to be expected. If it works, I’d be prepared to spend honestly ten times that as the pain is so significant. When ordering it from their website, I got free delivery and it came quickly too.
So what is the HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager With Heat? HoMedics have this description;
“Finding the time and money for regular spa appointments can sometimes cause more inconvenience than comfort. Instead, taking just fifteen minutes out of your busy day to experience a deep and calming state of relaxation can do wonders for the mind and body.
The HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat is the new way to experience the natural touch of a real massage at home. Simply position your feet in the 2-foot openings and over the rotating massage heads, applying a level of pressure that feels comfortable for you.
This massager is also equipped with the Shiatsu massage technology that relieves the tensed muscles and kneads away the everyday aches, time and time again. With soothing heat massage for added comfort and an easy toe touch control, your soles be thanking you all the way!“
The HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat looks like a squashed cat bed, with two holes for you to insert your feet. The place you put your feet is actually inside a removable ‘slipper’ which is attached with velcro, and can be removed and washed. In-between your feet, there’s a panel with the controls which have been designed so you can use your feet to toggle everything, making it easy for those with dexterity issues.
With the control panel, you can turn it on and off with the power button. Then there’s a switch which moves from zero to three, and the switch turns on the ‘air’ function. If you don’t move this switch, you get just the shiatsu massage function but no air compression.
If you press the power button once, the shiatsu massaging nodes begin to move in the ‘grey’ section so they massage the soles of your feet, and if you press it again, it’ll turn the heat function on and the lights in the device change from blue to red, so you know when you’ve turned the heat on.
So you can choose between just massage, or massage with air circulation. There’s no option to have just air circulation which is a little disappointing, as some days the sole of my foot is too painful for the massage but I’d still like to utilise the air compression function.
It’s quite noisy, but all massagers with spinning massage nodes are noisy, and the HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat has a fifteen minute shut off, but you can easily press the power button again should you want it to last longer.
In all honesty, I was worried that my feet wouldn’t fit in the HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat. I know that might sound ridiculous, but my feet are size 10, and they’re really wide (EEE), but they fit – and only just. If you have size 11+, there’s no way you’ll get your whole foot into the massager. You’ll still be able to feet the massage nodes on the ball of your foot, but they won’t reach any more of your foot.
The HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat is an amazing device but I can’t use the air function and the massage function at the same time because the air cushions within the massager press your feet really hard into the massage nodes and it really hurts my bad foot.
If you don’t have issues with the soles of your foot/feet, that won’t be an issue. I can use the massage function absolutely fine, and it feels good, but as there’s no option to use just the air compression alone, that’s half of the massager’s functions that I can’t use.
I can use the air and massage on my good foot, but I bought it to help my ‘bad’ foot but that’s not HoMedics fault, it’s just my foot and maybe if I was lucky enough to have petite feet, it wouldn’t even be an issue. In hindsight, I wish I’d have bought their Dual Shiatsu Foot Massager instead, which is almost half the price and doesn’t have the air compression function that I can’t use with the HoMedics Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat.