Omni Massage Roller vs. Orbit Massager -Roll it!

Recently a good friend asked me to be her massage doula.  I was preparing my massage doula bag, which I have not done for years (since my daughter was born) and I was looking for my great labor massage tools.   I love massage rollers.  They are versatile, easy to use, and easy to carry around.  My Omni Roller, which I have had at home for years, was nowhere to be found.  I called my local supplier, Massage Works, and she only had the Orbit massager at the time.  I ordered that, just to give it try.   Since baby was not here yet, I ordered a Omni Roller from Massage Warehouse.   All though I do not sell these in my practice, I do have clients who have me order self care massage products.  I let clients try each of these rollers themselves and I gave them a demonstration of each.  Here is some of our findings to report.

The Orbit Massager

Pressure Positive, the Pennsylvannia company that provides us with other great self-care massage products and tools such as the Knobble, Jacknobber, Index knobber, Backnobber, Palmassager.  The Orbit Massager is ergonomically superior.  It fits perfectly in the palm of your hand like a computer mouse and has a handy strap.  It is a little larger and costs a little less generally then the Omni.  I picked mine up for about $15.   However, I have two issues with this product.   It  may not be ideal in a clinic because of washability and noise.  I have not tried to wash it because there were no instructions on how to and I am afraid the water would sit in hollow palm portion.  This hollow palm portion brings me to talk about the noise.  It is noisy when compared to the nearly silent Omni roller.  Overall, A neat product with room for improvement.

Omni Massage Roller

The Omni Roller comes from the makers of the Mini Omni roller (a fun little novelty gift), a foot roller, and knuckle roller. The original Omni does not feel cheaply constructed; it feels heavier than the Orbit.   For $20-30 retail  you would hope for quality construction.  Massage practitioners can pick this up at a better cost from Massage Warehouse, but shipping is high if it is the only thing you buy.  For a little more money it may make sense to buy from somewhere else like Amazon (you may get free shipping).  This roller may be soaked in a disinfecting solution for easy cleaning.  When it comes to pressure, almost all clients reported the Omni roller had better pressure.  Many commented that if felt “like it was doing something”.  I think it is more difficult to apply deeper pressure with the ergonomically friendly Orbit massager.

All in all,  the Omni roller is still my favorite massage roller.   However, I enjoy the other simple self care products Pressure Positive produces.   What is your favorite roller or massage tool?  Have you tried the Body Secrets or Dynaflex Roller?  What did you think of it?  Do you sell any these in your practice?

Ivy Hultquist, LMT,

Advanced Massage Techniques, Online Massage CEUS

P.S. Labor went great!  I’ll have a massage doula blog later.  I just wanted to mention the father sat on the couch and used the Omni Roller on his areas of tension during labor.  He loved it!  Luckily, I bought two!