Ahh, the sweet bliss of a massage.
Whether your lumbar aches from standing up all day or your shoulders feel like a hardening mountain range of knots from long WFH sessions (and that’s despite having the right office chair), a good rub can get the blood flowing and leave you feeling reborn.
Naturally, the best massages are delivered by expert hands. Masseuses trained in the art of Swedish, Shiatsu, Thai, deep tissue and more know exactly where to push, knead and rub to get the reviving results you crave.
The trouble is that regular massage sessions don’t exactly come cheap, especially at a time when so many are watching their pennies.
Investing in a massage machine to use at home makes perfect sense, whatever your age. Long perceived as aches and pains-alleviating gadgets for the elderly, these nifty pieces of tech help ease muscles and relieve tension when you can’t get to a professional masseuse.
Whether you’re on your feet all day or your legs are in desperate need of TLC after weekends of cycling, hiking or festivalling, a foot rubbing device can make an excellent addition to self-care routines. Stick on a sheet mask, switch on your aromatherapy diffuser and let the tension drain from your body, feet first. Trust us when we say there’s nothing like it, especially on a Sunday when a fresh week lies waiting ahead.
The gadgets offer features like heat, air pressure and multiple massage modes. Then there are foot spas which use the transformative power of water to bring feet back from the brink.
Shop the best foot rub massagers below
Medcursor Foot Massager Machine with Heat Function
- Power source: mains
- Functions: heat, deep tissue, two compression levels, timer
- Weight: 2.2kg
Give tired, achy trotters some R&R with this massaging machine, which comes with a heat function to help relax the limbs more effectively. There are two compression levels on the instep and heel for extra attention in pressure points, while deep kneading brings relief to other parts of the sole elsewhere. The heat feature can be switched off while the automatic shut-off occurs after 15 minutes if your session is so good you doze off (easily done).
Buy now £69.99, Amazon
BYRIVER Foot Massager for Plantar Fasciitis
Like the idea of multi-tasking your R&R time? These sandals use hard beads to massage the fatigued underside of feet, stretching muscles out to their proper position. Be warned, this is painful at first, so try 10 minutes with socks before building up slowly to all-day wear. They may not be much to look at but for function - and results - they're golden (with the glowing Amazon customer rating to prove it).
Buy now £25.99, Amazon
Hangsun Large Foot Spa Bath Massager
When your feet are so tired you can hardly stand, look to Hangsun’s foot spa to bring them back to life. The spacious design is fitted with 14 mini rollers to revive your soles and have you feeling like you’re walking on cloud nine.
There’s no need to worry about refilling the kettle for warm water either; this machine has a built-in heater which can warm cold water in minutes and can maintain it at 14 temperature levels. If you’ve got aromatherapy oils, add them to the built-in medicine box to up the ante of this soothing experience.
Buy now £39.98, Amazon
MenKind Dual Foot Massager
The beauty of this massager is that it’s basic. The no-frills design is inspired by Shiatsu-style kneading and features two rotating nodes per foot to help dissolve tension and stress. Use them on their own or with some extra AA battery firepower to give your tired trotters quick relief.
Buy now £15.00, MenKind
Rio Deluxe Footspa and Massager
Whether you’re tired from a gruelling training session or just being on your feet all day, give your soles the TLC they so richly deserve with a session in Rio’s foot spa.
The Deluxe model is not only fitted with rollers to massage the underside of your feet, but there’s hydrotherapy jets, vibration massage, infrared LEDs, heating, and aromatherapy diffusion too. Who needs a spa when you’ve got this baby?
Buy now £50.00, Argos
RENPHO Foot Massager with Heat
Give tired feet a treat with a stint in Renpho’s massager which uses warming heat, a rotation ball and kneading and squeezing to raise blood circulation and rid them of soreness. There are different intensity levels so you can go as gentle or as hard as you like, and it comes with a remote so you don’t have to bend down to fiddle with the touch control panel mid-session.
A timer function also means you can close your eyes and think of nothing else but the massage. There’s more than enough room in each washable foot chamber to accommodate sizes up to a men’s 12.
Buy now £129.99, Amazon
Power Plate Mini+
Power Plate’s Mini+ is my kind of vibration gun, compact enough to slip into a gym bag but powerful enough to feel the difference on battered limbs. With an amplitude of 8mm, it offers less of a deep-tissue massage than others on this list but I found its lightweight design at just 435g and handle style very user-friendly.
It also comes with four-speed settings, two attachment heads, a carry pouch and five hours of battery life. I found the smaller handle easier to navigate than some of the larger devices I tested and loved the fact that I could charge it using a USB cable meaning I wouldn’t need to carry around a clunky cable.
Buy now £119.00, Amazon
Misiki Foot Spa Bath Massager
This foot spa mimics the reviving effects of a Shiatusu massage on your feet, easing muscle pain and stress. It’s got the full shebang, from massage rollers, bubbles, vibrations, and an integrated pumice stone to keep your feet as smooth as a baby’s. What sets it apart are the three massage modes that give your arches the relaxation they need.
Buy now £80.09, OnBuy
EMS Foot Massager
Championing the benefits of reflexology, this flat design looks nothing like most foot massagers. Yet it promises a deep and reviving massage with nine levels of intensity and six vibration modes to bring dead feet back from the brink.
How does it work without nodes? This foldable pad uses EMS, a low frequency pulse technology, to stimulate deep tissue muscles and improve circulation, relaxing not only the feet, but legs and the wider body too.
This is one to take on trips; not only is it lightweight and foldable but it can be charged via a USB port too.
Buy now £18.99, Amazon
Theraflow Dual Foot Massager
No need to rely on batteries or mains power here; this old school wooden foot massager uses two kinds of nodules to offer deep pain relief, with an anti-slip finish on the back to stop it sliding around while you’re using it.
The massager comes with a foot reflexology chart to help you learn about your pain and where else in your body could use a little attention. It’s ideal for ironing out knots as well as helping conditions like myofascial pain and Plantar Fasciitis.
Buy now £19.99, Amazon
