Here are some specific ways the Thumbby™ massager benefits bodyworkers for both client and self-care massage:

** The softness of the Thumbby™ massager means the thumb-sized point feels like a thumb to clients. The softness also means therapists can safely use the Thumbby™ massager close to bone because the massager yields (spreads out) when it encounters hard areas in the body. (The video on www.thumbby.com shows a Thumbby™ massager used on a piece of silicone that is close to the maximum hardness of human muscle - notice how the point changes the deeper the massager goes.)

** The point of the Thumbby™ massager delivers eight times (8x) the force that is applied to the base. This greatly reduces thumb fatigue when doing deep techniques (e.g., trigger points and muscle stripping) or when working on heavily-muscled clients. Therapists can use their body weight with the massager to soften hard muscles, saving wear on their hands.

** The shape of the Thumbby™ massager plus its high coefficient of friction (i.e., it grips skin better than fingers do) offers therapists new techniques and new ways to do familiar techniques (e.g., cross-fiber friction, tapping, vibration). Here are two examples using two Thumbby™ massagers on the erector spinae muscles:

1) Put the shoulders of the massagers (the area above the base that's as wide as the heel of the hand) on the lateral side of each muscle. Use the massagers to push the muscles medially for a cross-fiber stretch. (The same thing can be done by pinching the two muscles between thumbs and fingers but it's very tiring to the hands.)

2) Position the points of the massagers close to the spine opposite each other. Alternately rock them up and down to stretch and mobilize a small section of the spine at a time.

** For self-care of the back, the Thumbby™ massager sticks to smooth walls for pressing points on the back. Any of the techniques described above can also be used for self-care. The shoulder of the massager can be used like the heel of the hand but by pulling towards instead of pushing away.