I Thank My Physical Therapist Every Day For Putting Me Onto This Genius Tool That Saves My Back After Gardening

After a long weekend spent gardening in my yard, I’m usually filled with a mix of happy endorphins and unrelenting back and neck pain. I’m not willing to give up my favorite hobby, though, so I started physical therapy to ensure I can physically keep up. While my body usually feels better directly after a physical therapy session, the pain tends to come back—sometimes with a vengeance—the next day. To alleviate the pain and keep it at bay for longer, my physical therapist recommended a genius product—and it has truly changed my life.

It’s a candy cane-shaped massage tool that allows you to target a specific pain point and apply deep pressure to achy back, neck, arm, leg, hip, and buttocks muscles. “It’s an easy-to-use self-massage tool that helps release tight muscles, relieve tension, and improve circulation throughout the body,” explains Laura Hendricks, the DPT and certified pelvic floor physical therapist I work with in Bayshore, NY. “Whether you’re managing pelvic floor dysfunction, orthopedic pain, or just everyday stress, using a Thera Cane can make you feel more lengthened, lighter, and more comfortable. It can help you get back to the activities you love—like caring for your kids, gardening, or even enjoying a pain-free date night.”

Thera Cane Massager

Credit:

Amazon

The Thera Cane’s unique hook shape leverages hard-to-reach areas so you can apply your preferred amount of pressure. That pressure breaks up muscle adhesions in areas you otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach yourself, and improves blood flow, too.

I use it the most when my back or neck acts up, but especially after heavy-duty raking, weeding, and planting tasks. The key, Hendricks says, is to apply pressure to trigger points and knotted muscles while breathing deeply. “Holding your breath only creates more tension,” Hendrick explains. “You can move it around your shoulders, back, or hips to target hard-to-reach spots and ease pain or tension.”

This genius gadget has a 4.7-star rating overall, and nearly 4,000 five-star reviews. Amazon shoppers have purchased it more than 1,000 times in the past month and call it everything from “a Godsend” to a “miracle worker.”

The same reviewer who called it a miracle said they “cannot imagine life without it,” especially as a competitive collegiate powerlifter who frequently has back aches and pain. “This is a great tool to just hook over your shoulder and use the weight of your arms to apply pressure without having to get on the floor with a lacrosse ball or foam roller.”

And that’s exactly what makes it a great pain relief tool for people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, too. “I am almost 70 and have neuromuscular problems. My PT let me use [hers] overnight,” one reviewer wrote, “And I was amazed. It is a [huge] help for me.”

Credit:

Better Homes & Gardens/Stephanie Osmanski

You don’t have to be a powerlifter or in your 70s to appreciate the power of the Thera Cane either. It helps alleviate discomfort from regular, everyday tasks. “If you sit at the computer for extended hours, if you lift and load heavy objects daily, if [you] garden, if you hike, if you’re active and most of all, inactive, get one,” another five-star reviewer wrote. “Find your pressure points and you’ll be glad you found this.”

Someone else with Rheumatoid arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis said their father-in-law (who is in their 70s) recommended it to them. “He uses [it] all the time,” they wrote and said that the cane “makes it easy for anyone of any age to use to work out those sore spots without having to go to a massage parlor.”

And another five-star reviewer agreed that in many ways, it’s better than a massage. They wrote, “Great bang for the buck! Breaks up knots in a few minutes daily. Easier than hopping in a car and spending $80 on [a] massage.”

The Thera Cane Massager has saved me so much pain since I first started using it, and now I can garden to my heart’s content without worrying about what my body will feel like after. It’s also a physical therapist-approved and -recommended tool, which has helped people dealing with chronic pain, people in their 70s, and plenty others.

Grab it for $35 on Amazon right now, and check out more pain-relief solutions below.