Best Hand Massager For Arthritis Treatment

If you are suffering from hand or wrist pain due to inflammation (arthritis), then regular massages could make a huge difference for you!

It might go a long way in relieving your pain and reducing swelling while also improving the range of motion making your daily life easier.

After all, most of us need well-functioning hands to do things.

You could use one hand to massage the other, ask some kind person for a massage or go to a professional, but you could also buy a massage device specifically designed for your hand and wrist.

The key to using massage for remedying arthritis is frequency, and that is why getting a hand massage device might prove to be the best long-term solution.

There are a bunch of different products you can buy, and to help you out I have put together this review of the best hand massagers for arthritis.

Summarizing Comparison Table

Why Massage Might Help Treat Arthritis Symptoms

Arthritis is a medical term that can describe many kinds of joint inflammation in varying degree. Regrettably, it is a very common issue that has more severely impacting effects as you become older.

Medication and surgery are sometimes used in severe cases of arthritis, but massage, physical therapy, exercising and having a good diet can often go a very long way in reducing the symptoms or even keep the symptoms completely at bay.

In fact, massage is highly recommended by medical professionals as a way to manage the symptoms and research has found it to be very effective for remedying hand, wrist, and knee arthritis. But frequent massages are required to maintain the effects.

You can read more about the benefits of massage for hand and wrist arthritis here. and for general symptoms, causes, and treatments you can read more on mayoclinic.org.

“Rollers” or Electric Massagers – Which One Should You Choose?

There are two kinds of massage devices popularly used for massaging hands and wrist.

One is an electric device that does all the work for you and the other one is a “roller” where you have to manually roll the device up and down or move your arm.

Electric Massagers – The Easier Solution

At a glance, most people will probably find the electric hand massagers appealing over the manual types because they do not require you to “lift a finger” (pun intended).

You simply place your hand in the device and the kneading and compressing begins. The Breo iPalm520s and iVolconn are both highly rated electric massagers equipped with air compression and heat technology. For the best effects, glovers or hand cream should be used.

Massage “Rollers”

While the manual roller-type massagers require you to do a little work yourself, they do not only work well for massaging your hands and wrist but also your forearms. This is something the electric massagers cannot do.

How useful it is to massage your forearms obviously depends on where your arthritis is most prevalent. However, hands, wrist, and forearms are tightly connected and affect each other.

The Roleo Hand Massager and the Rolflex Pro both have great feedback and are highly rated among. They also come at a cheaper price than the electric massagers.

Key Features And Specs

I find that tables almost always make comparisons easier. In the two tables below, you will find the key features tabulated.

Explaining reach row:
1st row = technology used, 2nd row = massage type, 3rd row = features

All 4 massagers are made from somewhat sturdy materials and the devices should last for a relatively long time. Although, some users have complained about Roleo being a bit cheaply built.

They don’t take up too much space and are lightweight, so they are easy to store away or take with you.

Electric Massagers

For those who want a “hands-off solution”, the electric hand massagers are obviously the right choice. Both Breo and iVolconn are turned on using a timer function. You can choose your massage run for 5, 10, or 15 minutes. But you could choose to run it multiple times.

The Breo iPalm is operated by using a power cord or AA batteries which are included. So you can choose to go cordless if you want. The iVolconn has a built-in rechargeable battery.

The units work by inflating and deflating which will knead and apply pressure to many different points on your fingers and palms. It is designed based on traditional Chinese meridian acupoint massage theory.

Whether you agree with traditional Chinese medicine theory or not, a lot of people have found that they help relieve sore and achy hands.

Explaining each row:
1st row = weight, 2nd row = charging, 3rd row = extras.

Massage Rollers

Both the Rolflex and Roleo have two rolling units so the pressure is applied on both sides of your hand, wrist, and forearm.

Rolflex Pro Edition comes with an adjustable hinge making it great for massaging a lot of different areas and not only the hands. Actually, you can use it on almost all your body, but is especially useful for hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, legs, and back.

The Rolflex is endorsed by several pro-athletes and even the cool YouTuber Jujimufu.

It is really not only for individuals with arthritis in hand and/or wrists but would fit anyone who wants to enjoy a relaxing massage anywhere on the body

As for the Roleo, the functionality is more straight-forward without setting up or too much adjusting. You just insert your hand or forearm and move it forward and back. But then it does not come with the versatility of the Rolflex.

The Roleo hand massager was actually invented by a massage therapist to treat his own achy hand, wrists and forearms that he would get after massaging a lot of people.

Expectaions

In an ideal world, the best hand massager for arthritis should be able to completely replace an actual massage done by a person.

I suspect that there is something truly unique about the human touch, so even with significant technological progress, I doubt that it is possible to ever replace. That is unless we are talking some computer simulated reality that is indistinguishable from the real world.

Customer/User Impressions

Regarding the use of the iVolconn and Breo iPalm 520s, some people report a weird sensation the first few times. Manufacturers explain the slight discomfort is due to nerve compression.

Daily work makes the muscles and nerve stiff and subjecting them to compression can lead to initial uneasiness. But as you use it more often, this sensation goes away.

Compared with iVolconn, the Breo iPalm can be challenging for those who have big hands. You may need to squeeze your fingers and palm to accommodate your entire hand. The iVolconn has a more spacious design and can better accomadate larger hands, it is also a bit quieter when operated. However, some users complain that the heating function is not warm enough.

As for both the Rolflex and Roleo, people generally report they work well and I haven’t seen any complaints about them being hard or tiring to use.

Conclusion

The hands are one of the most overworked parts of the body and giving them a good massage should not be associated with luxury but rather as a method to maintain their health and performance.

For the price, all products mentioned here can be considered a reasonable investment for alleviating painful arthritis symptoms.

To get the best results in relieving your arthritits symptomps, you should make sure you have a good diet and exercise regularly.

I am a big fan of weight training, which is also a great way to combat arthritis symptoms and is recommended by medical professionals.