Sit Back and Relax

Photo: Premier Massage Chairs

Do you find yourself tense, stressed out and with little free time to do anything about it?

Do you wish you could have a relaxing massage whenever you want, even at 3 a.m., in the comfort of your own home?

If you're not ready to hire an in-house masseuse, an electric massage chair might be a good option for you.

It's a significant investment, but your entire body will thank you.

The first massage chair was introduced by Japanese company Family Inada in 1962. "One of the reasons they designed [the chair] was because people wanted to have massages from their home," says Eric Henderson, president of Premier Massage Chairs. "They were introduced to the U.S. about 25 years later," Henderson adds.

There are many high-end offerings to pick from, but I've narrowed it down to three of the top performers, from Panasonic, the Sharper Image(SHRP Quote) and Sanyo(SANYY Quote).

The Real Pro Elite Massage Lounger

Panasonic's pick carries the most impressive credentials.

It is the first chair endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association, the largest professional chiropractic association. The process to endorse a product takes three to six months, and the product is often tested within chiropractic offices. "The doctors reviewing the product, as well as their staff and patients, provide ACA feedback on the overall quality and performance of the product," says Angela Kargus, director of public and media relations at the American Chiropractic Association.

Panasonic's chair massages not only your back but also your calves and -- get this -- your feet, too. (That's just perfect for me, since I live in a city where I need to walk everywhere.)

If you get bored with one type of massage, the chair offers a five-minute and four 14-minute preprogrammed massages, varying in intensity, in many styles: shiatsu, which provides squeezing and finger pressure; deep, a slow kneading; Swedish, a flowing massage; and stretch, which uses a blend of various techniques.

The Panasonic chair can store six settings, so you won't have to program the massage time and time again. And if you're impatient, like so many of us, the included remote features an easy-to-use voice guide to make sure you can figure out the plethora of options.

And what makes this chair a standout for the professionals? "The ACA concluded that the [Panasonic] chair provides outstanding deep-tissue relief, which can temporarily relax tense muscles, offering an ideal complement to chiropractic manipulation," says Kargus.

All this can be yours for $4,300; Visit Panasonic or other retailers, such as Brookstone.

The Ultimate Human Touch Robotic Massage Chair

What comes to your mind when you picture the Sharper Image? For me, it's going to the store as a child with my family on a Sunday afternoon and watching my dad sit on the massage chair for at least a half an hour until the salesperson asked him to get up so that other customers could try it.

After checking out one of its latest models, the Ultimate Human Touch Robotic Massage chair, I can't blame him.