Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Saw this at Whole Foods, but didn't buy it there, figuring I could get it cheaper on Amazon. It was $30 cheaper and it arrived in only 2-3 days. I was surprised at how painful it was initially. Those spikes are extremely sharp! After thinking that I couldn't lay on it with my bare skin, I tried it with a lightweight T-shirt, but that isolated the sensation so much that I didn't feel like I was getting any benefit. Next I tried a piece of sheer drapery fabric that wasn't much thicker than a nylon stocking. That too isolated the spikes so much that it didn't feel like the mat was doing much. So, I decided to just grit my teeth and try it without my shirt again. The sensation was a bit like laying on a layer of shredded glass. It really hurt and I was concerned that the sharp points of the mat poking the moles on my back might not be a good idea. But I stuck with it and after 3-4 minutes, the pain was gradually replaced with a warm sensation (and the moles are intact and not bleeding). The pamphlet that comes with it suggests that you breathe deeply while you're trying to adjust to it and I found this helped to take my mind off the pain. After about 5-6 minutes it actually started to become very relaxing. After about 20 minutes it becomes difficult if not impossible to stay awake. It's similar to the deep relaxation you get with a massage, but it is not for the faint of heart. You have to really want to do this in order to get past that initial pain threshold. If you're the type of person that gives up easily, it may not be for you. I use it for my neck a lot, with the mat draped over a tightly rolled towel and my neck positioned over that. I do a lot of bicycling (hunched over, head up, neck bent) and working at the computer so I have a lot of neck issues. This really relaxes and loosens up my neck when it is tight and stiff as a board. The literature that comes with it also offers suggestions for using it on your face, stomach and chest, but I haven't tried that yet. I've tried standing on it with my bare feet and that is too painful; haven't gotten past that pain threshold there yet, but you can sit in a chair and put your feet on it so that your entire body weight isn't pressing into it. My only complaint is that the mat is a bit small. Using it lengthwise, it covers most of the length of my mid-back up through my neck but not the lower back. Even then, it's not wide enough to fully get the backs of my shoulders, so I find I have to reposition it after the first 20-30 minute session. It will cover the length of my back if I'm not applying it to my neck at the same time. A mat about 20% larger would be much better to get everything from the lower back through the neck in one session. When you try to get up after lying on it, it's every bit as painful as when you first lay down on it, as you pry your skin off of the spikes. When you're done your skin will look like you've got a really bad sunburn, with a lot of little pock marks as well, but of course that's only temporary. If you can deal with the pain of the initial few minutes (and the last few seconds when you get up), it can have a place in your relaxation or therapy routine. Update 9/12/12: One benefit that I wasn't completely aware of when I first started using this is what a terrific sleep aid it is when I go to bed at night. If I can't get to sleep within a few minutes of lying in bed, I'll pull out the Spoonk. Within 20 minutes or so I'm asleep. Never fails. Even when I've gone to bed after having eaten something sweet or if I've had caffeine in the evening and I feel that jittery sugar/caffeine rush thing... I lay on the Spoonk and after those first few painful minutes it's like I've been given a powerful sedative. Sometimes I'll wake up an hour or so later and have to re-visit the pain as I pry myself off the mat, but I'm so relaxed that I'm back to sleep again in minutes. My wife uses it nearly every night for the same reason, since she has frequent problems getting to sleep. Update: April 11, 2018. I wanted to give a quick follow up here, after using this for a few years now. Sometimes you buy something and it seems great for a while, but it ends up collecting dust in the garage, or stuffed away in the attic. Not the case for the Spoonk in my house. My wife and I each have one and use them almost daily. Lately I've been using it whenever I need some quick relief for mid back pain/tension. A few minutes on the Spoonk takes it all away. I'm upgrading my rating to 5-stars, as this product has given me so much value over the years. The initial "pain" I described when you first lay down on it, or get up from using it, is no longer an issue for me because I'm used to it. The relaxation benefits are well worth that brief period of discomfort.