Pressure the back pain away

Maybe you scoff at yoga. Maybe you sneer at acupuncture.

But don't jump to disregard a new product that fuses the two... A yoga mat and acupuncture pricks.

OK, I know what that sounds like.

But I also know my back is feeling fantastic.

The Halsa Acupressure Mat came into my life with serendipitous timing. I had just experienced a painful issue with my leg, the remedying antibiotics producing side effects that had me considering the Christian Science approach to modern medicine.

Compounding that, most of my recovery time had been spent on my deeply uncomfortable couch, which I'm always worrying is the culprit of my occasional stiff back.

So when I was offered to test the torso-sized mat covered with circles of plastic spikes, I was feeling more than open to its lofty promises of pain relief and general well-being.

The instructions were simple enough. Just lay on the mat, supine or posturing, and let the 8,820 blunted prickers go to work on your body.

I realize the Acupressure Mat sounds a bit like a torture device.

According to the company website, the aim is to imitate the process of acupuncture. The myriad spikes apply pressure to parts of the body that promote well-being and release pain relief hormones.

It's like what we experience, the site stated, during "exercise, touching, excitement and infatuation."

OK, cool.

I did have a few uncertainties before I lay across the landscape of plastic cactuses. How much of my body goes on? Was the stomach-down position safe and comfortable for women?

I figured it out by experimentation. I put on what I felt was healing music - Dvorak's "New World Symphony" - and lay on my back.

At first, the sensation of spikes digging into my back was a little shocking. But it only took a moment to grow accustomed to the feel, and soon the prick of the spikes felt mild, like an afterthought.

I found the most comfortable position was with head and neck off the mat, my knees bent, back and triceps on the spikes. I lay for the suggested 10 minutes for a first attempt. As I waited, my mind wandered. I relaxed.

Maybe it was in my mind, but I did seem to feel a tingling sensation in my extremities... My body's energy reorienting, or whatever?

The 10 minutes flew by, and when I sat up, wow. I felt like I had just had an hour-long massage. I was so relaxed I could have melted. And my lower back, still tingling, felt instant relief.

I immediately tried laying on my stomach, which I discovered was perfectly comfortable for women, too. I nearly fell asleep, I was so at ease.

My only regret afterward was that I had to return to my torture couch.

I've continued to use the mat daily. It's abating all the daily discomfort my back endures, as well as just relieving stress.

I'm not only planning to keep this for myself (at first I thought I might altruistically share it with my coworkers), but I think I'll also buy one as a gift for my dad, a fellow sufferer of back pain.

The Halsa Acupressure Mat is available online at www.amazon.com, www.halsamat.com and many other online shopping sites.

Alecia Warren is a staff writer for The Press. She can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2011, or via e-mail at awarren@cdapress.com.