This invention is an apparatus and an associated method with which a person may self-apply concurrent spinal traction and lateral spinal flexure. The apparatus comprises a mobile carriage with ankle grips, long handles and flexible links to a floor pad that is held in place by the weight of the user's upper torso. The user applies arm pressure to the handles so as to urge the carriage and the user's ankles away from the user's torso. This force on the user's ankles applies a stretching force (traction) to the user's lower spine. Alternating a slightly greater force on the handles causes the carriage, constrained by links to the floor pad, to swing to and fro in a lateral arc. The concurrent application of user-induced traction and lateral spinal flexure is but one advantage of the apparatus and is a novel combination in the field of exercise and therapeutic devices.

The present invention provides an adjustable bed handheld remote control that may include a handheld housing, a touch sensor on a front face of the handheld housing, a transmitter and the like. The touch sensor may be presented in a slider form and may be adapted to facilitate a user in adjusting a frame position of an adjustable bed. The transmitter may be electrically coupled to a processor and may receive input from the touch sensor, for communication control signals to the adjustable bed in accordance with the input received from the touch sensor.

A therapeutic massage system is provided. The system is characterized by a controllable compressed air delivery system and a cushion adapted for operative union with a portion of the air delivery system. The cushion includes a support pad and a therapy pad, the support pad having head and vertebral column supporting portions. The support pad vertebral column supporting portion is characterized by longitudinally extending compartments containing filler material. A central compartment of compartments of the support vertebral column supporting portion having a primary region traversing an axial centerline of said cushion and secondary regions spaced apart from said primary central region. The therapy pad overlays and is affixed to the vertebral column supporting portion of the support pad, the therapy pad including a plurality of fluid fillable channels for receiving a vertebral column wherein select fluid fillable channels of the plurality of fluid fillable channels of the therapy pad are fillable via programmed actuation of an actuatable element of the air delivery system. Filler material of the compartments of the support vertebral column supporting portion are responsive to receipt of body weight upon the cushion and select filling of the plurality of fluid fillable channels of the therapy pad, filler material of the regions of the central compartment being passable throughout segments of same in response to receipt of body weight upon the cushion and select filling of the plurality of fluid fillable channels of the therapy pad.

A trigger point therapy device for applying pressure to a localized area of myofascial tissue that is accessed from the exterior of a patient's body. The therapy device includes a base portion has top and bottom surfaces that define a width dimension for the base portion. The therapy device also includes a pressure applicator that is connected to the base portion. The device allows an equivalent amount of pressure to be applied while the patient is lying on a soft surface as compared to lying on a hard surface. This increases the length of time that a patient will can comfortably use the device and promotes usage of the device by the patient. A method includes placing the device on a soft surface and positioning a patient on the soft surface to place the pressure applicator in engagement with the localized area of myofascial tissue.

A foot pillow designed to be used by an individual with plantar fasciitis and suffers from severe foot pain when the individual attempts to stand or walk after resting horizontally. The pillow is a square or rectangular structure with a flat bottom and a dome or conical-shaped top surface. The pillow is made of elastic foam sufficient size, thickness and compression rating to support the user's arch when standing on the pillow's center axis. Because the pillow is domed or conical shape, the pillow has less arch support near its perimeter edge. During use, the user stands in place and repeatedly lifts and press both feet into the top surface near the pillow's center axis. Over a few minutes, the user lifts his feet and gradually moves them outward towards the perimeter edge thereby enabling the plantar fascia on each foot to gradually stretch before being fully extended when standing or walking.

A formed therapeutic tool has a base in a generally heart-shaped configuration with a narrow arcuate front, a wide rear, tapering sides, and a concave bottom. A rearward support is formed of two similarly configured projections. The projections are laterally spaced. Each projection has a linear high point and a semicircular surface. The tool has a forward support formed of two similarly configured inclines. Each incline has an arcuate high point adjacent to one of the projections and an arcuate low point adjacent to the front. A ovoid shaped central recess extends downwardly between the inclines and the projections. The central recess terminates in an ovoid shaped floor with a lower surface constituting a portion of the concave bottom of the base. The tool having a Durometer of from 36 to 45 on a Shore A scale and an Indentation Force Deflection of from 8 to 9.

A therapeutic pet bed. The therapeutic pet bed includes a base, where the base is configured to rest on a support surface. The therapeutic pet bed also includes a cover, where the base is attached to the cover and the cover surrounds the other components of the therapeutic pet bed. The therapeutic pet bed further includes a foam base and one or more vibration motors within the foam base. The therapeutic pet bed additionally includes a heating layer and a pad, where the pad produces a rest area for the pet. The therapeutic pet bed moreover includes a control, where the control is configured to allow a user to turn on and off the heating layer and the vibration motors.

A system for improving blood circulation, the system comprising a control unit comprising a processor and at least one article of footwear wherein one or more of the at least one articles of footwear together or alone comprise: one or more actuators coupled to and controlled by the control unit; one or more electrically-conductive paths; one or more sensors integrated into the at least one article of footwear and coupled to the processor, for providing measurement signals to the control unit; and the system further comprising an electrical power supply for supplying electrical power to the one or more sensors by means of the one or more electrically-conductive paths.

A motor vehicle seat having a seat region, in particular a backrest or a seat part, wherein at least one fluid-filled hollow body connected to a first fluid inlet and outlet conduit is arranged in the seat region, wherein the at least one hollow body is part of a seat displacement device and/or a massage device and wherein the hollow body is supported by a support device also arranged in the seat region on its side facing away from an occupant sitting in the motor vehicle seat, characterized in that the support device in turn comprises at least one fluid-filled hollow support body which is arranged in the seat region and is spatially separated from the at least one hollow body, wherein the firmness of the seat and/or the strength of the massage application can additionally be adjusted by varying the filling of the hollow support body.

The invention relates to a chair for accommodating a person. The chair includes an upper body section having an upper body contact surface adapted or adaptable to at least parts of a front of a torso or a rear of a torso of a person placed on the chair, and a lower body section having a lower body contact surface adapted or adaptable to at least parts of at least a front of a thigh of the person, wherein the upper body section and the lower body section are arranged or arrangeable and fixable in a position relative to each other such that the upper body contact surface and the lower body contact surface cause a hyperextension posture of the hip joint of the person with a predetermined hyperextension angle. By forming the hyperextension angle of the hip on the chair, shortening of the anterior thigh and hip muscles can be counteracted. Also disclosed are a pressing device for application to the human body, which is adapted for use on a chair and which includes one or more pressure units each having at least one pressure head adapted to apply local or point pressure at a predetermined pressure location on the body of a person accommodated on the chair, and a chair having such a pressing device.