Massage Chair for Sciatica Reviews & Ratings 2024

(*) Note: The Baseline Rating is the individual product score without considering specific intent or context. See the details of each model below to get a contextual, goal-oriented, analysis.

Do you suffer from sciatica? If you do, then the condition needs no introduction. You know what an agony it can be.

There are many great massage chairs on the market today that have features that make them ideal for banishing this condition, so the next question is, what’s the best massage chair for sciatica? That’s the question we’ll answer in the sections that follow.

Our Methodology

We’re doing something a bit different with this review and have identified what we feel are the key massage chair features that are best at treating the condition and assigned point values to them. You’ll see those point values in the chart below, in our list of most important features.

Then, we compared our ideal with the top models being sold today. Our top pick emerged from this simple scoring system, regardless of their baseline ranking, which takes many other factors into account.

Don’t worry if you disagree with our top pick. We’ll provide full details about all our finalists so you can make an informed decision and find the perfect chair for you.

As you can see, if price is no object, the Infinity Imperial is the winner by a single point, but factoring price into the equation, and the Kahuna LM6800 becomes the clear winner, having a four-point lead over its next closest competitor. Thus, we give top honors to…

Our Pick: Kahuna LM6800

(*)  Note: Brand Reliability is a measure of the strength and longevity of the brand, which by extension, is a measure of the level of support you can expect.

This is flat-out an amazing massage chair and the best value for the money on the market today. It has far and away the cheapest massage chair on a cost-per-feature basis, and is so modestly priced that we wonder how the company could possibly be making any money on it.

For the curious, each dollar sign in the columns of the other chairs equals the full price of the LM6800, so with seven “$’s” on the Imperial, you could literally buy seven LM6800s for the price of that chair and so on. Again, this is just an unbelievable value.

Price aside, though, it’s an excellent chair purely on a feature-by-feature basis. It’s the only chair to come within one point of the overall winner, so let’s look at exactly what it can do. 

Feature Summary

Body Stretch

Kahuna’s patented “Yoga” Body Stretch is widely regarded as the industry’s best, so although you don’t have redundancy in the form of Waist Twist and Hip Swing, you are getting an exceptionally good stretch.

Zero-Gravity

Zero-G seating is a fantastic feature, especially for those suffering from sciatica. By reclining your knees to be elevated slightly above your heart, it gives you a feeling of weightlessness, which helps take pressure off the discs in your spine, relieving pain during the massage.

This position also allows the rollers to render a deeper, more penetrating massage that cuts to the core of the problem, speeding healing.

Massage Modes

The zone and partial massage modes are a nice, general therapeutic addition because they allow you to interrupt any massage program and focus the rollers exactly where you need them. When you combine this with the long massage track, you can spend as much time as you need to focusing on exactly the areas that hurt.

Heat Function

The product description lists the LM6800’s back heat as lumbar only, but here, they sell themselves short, as the heating element is quite expansive and provides heat to the mid-back.

Calf & Foot Massage

The thing that makes the calf and foot massage superior is the fact that it combines airbags and quad rollers for the feet, where most other chairs utilize dual rollers.

While some have complained that the roller action is too intense, this can easily be corrected by wearing an extra pair of socks if this proves to be the case for you.

Combine that with the heated leg massage ports, and it’s simply fantastic, but the LM6800 has more to offer than just these features.

Other Highlights – Kahuna LM6800

While it’s certainly true that the other models we’ll look at have more features in total, the additional things they bring to the table don’t directly relate to helping with your condition, and when looked at through that lens, the 6800 is hands down the best massage chair for sciatica on the market today.

Runner-Up: Infinity Iyashi

(*)  Note: Brand Reliability is a measure of the strength and longevity of the brand, which by extension, is a measure of the level of support you can expect.

Feature Summary

Body Stretch + Waist Twist

Some people might question the wisdom of putting both Body Stretch and Waist Twist in the same chair, because the features are aimed at the same goal – taking pressure off compressed discs in your spine.

At second glance, however, the reason for it becomes clear, and they offer incredible synergy. Think about your pain level from one day to the next? It can be highly variable, right?

So on a day when your pain is especially bad, the body stretch might be too aggressive for you to use, but you still need relief. In that case, you can downshift to the waist twist, use it to knock your pain level down, then go about your business.

The next day, your pain level might not be as high, so you can use the more aggressive treatment option. Having the freedom and flexibility to switch between the two is tremendous.

Calf and Foot Massage

While the calf and foot massage appears only average (utilizing the standard combination of airbags and dual rollers), on closer inspection, you realize it has a secret weapon.

Most massage chairs offer no ability to customize this part of the experience, but with the Iyashi, you can modify the foot roller speed through three different levels via the remote, and that makes it absolutely fantastic.

Other Features You’ll Love

This model is significantly more expensive than our top pick, but as you can see, it offers a much broader set of features, including lots of convenience items that makes it a popular model among casual and hobbyist users, even as it delivers tremendous therapeutic benefit.

Value Pick: Infinity Imperial

The Infinity Imperial is the best massage chair for sciatica that money can buy. If you’re not on a budget, this is the chair you want. It has everything. In fact, it soundly defeated the mighty Inada Dreamwave in our head-to-head competition, which is heralded by many as the best massage chair in the world.

Feature Summary

4D Tech + Deep Tissue Massage

Deep tissue massage is a tremendously valuable addition to the core feature set. In this case, it is implemented via the addition of “4D Technology,” which requires a bit of explanation.

The standard “S-Track” used in most modern massage chairs already allows the rollers to move in three dimensions. That is to say, the rollers move up and down (the Y-Axis), left and right (the X-Axis), and in and out as they follow the curve of your body’s spine (the Z-Axis).

4D Tech adds yet another dimension to this, allowing the rollers to move an extra 3” away from the track, which results in a deeper, more penetrating massage, perfect for dealing with chronic pain.

Combined with the extended track this model uses, Zero-G seating, and spot/partial modes, it enables you to get the rollers exactly where you need them, and enjoy a massage of unparalleled strength and intensity. That’s not for everyone, of course, but it’s a real Godsend for chronic pain sufferers.

Calf & Foot Massage

Three things make the calf and foot massage stand out. First is the presence of heat in the leg massage ports, which is incredible.

Second, more than half of the chair’s 76 Second Generation Airbags are in the leg massage ports, giving you a superior experience, but the third is probably the most interesting.

In an overwhelming number of cases, if a massage chair offers a roller-based foot massage, it’s rendered with a generic “rolling” technique that can’t be modified or customized in any way.

That’s not the case here. With the Imperial, you’re treated to a Shiatsu foot massage, adjustable through three levels of intensity from the remote. This makes this one of the best calf and foot implementations on the market today. You’re going to love it.

Other Features You’ll Love

There’s a reason the Imperial handily beat the Inada Dreamwave in our head to head comparison, and it comes down to the fact that it has a simply mind-boggling number of features, including:

The only real drawback to the Imperial is its hefty price tag, but if you’re giving it a serious look, that’s probably not a concern that matters to you. It’s simply one of the most robust designs on the market today.

Also Great

Daiwa Legacy

Although this chair has a Japanese-sounding name, the company is an American manufacturer, and this is another of the very few massage chairs made here in the United States.

While it didn’t have an impressive score in terms of dealing with sciatica in particular, this is an attractive model filled with a variety of therapeutic features. Let’s peer under the hood to get a better view of what it can do:

Feature Summary

While there’s not much new here to talk about, the one thing that makes this feature set compelling is that the  Daiwa Legacy is the only massage chair on our list to offer inversion therapy.

Inversion Therapy

This is an important feature that very few massage chairs bring to the table, but it’s incredibly powerful because it helps improve circulation and promotes better spinal alignment.

That, combined with the Body Stretch and Waist Twist gives you a powerful suite of options you can use to control, manage, and ultimately conquer your pain.

Calf & Foot Massage

The calf and foot massage is a typical implementation, made better by the addition of heated foot wells, and a stationary massage pad that augments the foot rollers.

The rest of the features are standard fare, but the inversion option alone makes it well worth considering.

Other Notable Features

In addition to the features that have direct bearing on the treatment of sciatica, the Legacy offers a number of other impressive options. These include:

No Remote

One oddity you’ll note with the Legacy is the absence of a remote.

That’s not necessarily a deal breaker because you can access all of the chair’s functions via the touchpad on the swing arm attached to the chair, but it is something of an oddity, given that every other chair on our list has one.

Even so, if you’re looking for a chair that offers inversion therapy, then this one is on an extremely short list of models to consider. Add to that the fact that it is loaded with other powerful therapeutic options, and it’s a solid contender, even if it didn’t take top honors.

Luraco i7

(*)  Note: Brand Reliability is a measure of the strength and longevity of the brand, which by extension, is a measure of the level of support you can expect.

Feature Summary

There’s nothing new in this list of features that we haven’t talked about previously, except for the Luraco i7’s calf and foot implementation, but it warrants a special mention here.

Calf & Foot Massage

While the typical calf/foot massage utilizes a mix of airbags and (dual) rollers, Luraco’s implementation takes things to the next level by incorporating heat. That, combined with the chair’s impressive 101 airbags, makes it hard to top.

Other Notable Features

While this model didn’t win top honors, two things may make it your personal favorite.

First, it’s one of the few chairs made in the USA.

Second, it’s one of the best general therapeutic models being sold today and offers the following:

Memory

The Luraco i7 is one of those few and features five memory slots, which you can use to program a totally custom massage experience using your favorite settings, and save it for recall later at the touch of a button.

Given the large number of options Luraco’s chair makes available, the ability to save your favorite settings is huge.

It is a great, robust, American-made chair with a heavy emphasis on powerful therapeutic features and enough convenience options (music support, memory) to please most casual users as well. It’s expensive, but well worth the investment for the right user.

How Do You Know You Have Sciatica?

If you’ve got the condition, odds are excellent that you know it, but if you’re not sure, it’s something that can be reliably self-diagnosed. If you:

That’s sciatica, leaving its calling cards for you.

It can be caused either by physical activity or extended periods of sitting and is usually caused when a herniated disc or bone spur presses against the sciatic nerve. In two words, it’s not fun. At all.

The good news is that it’s easy to treat, and massage is one of the more common treatment options.

Of course, making an appointment with your chiropractor, trudging to the office, and waiting around to be seen can be inconvenient, even in the best of cases. Still, you don’t have to do any of that because any of the chairs we’ve talked about in this piece will help you feel better quickly.

Massage Chair for Sciatica Conclusion

In our quest to find the best massage chair for sciatica, we’ve uncovered different options. Our overall pick being the modestly priced but monstrously capable Kahuna LM6800, with a close runner-up being the mighty Infinity Imperial if you’ve got lots of money to spend.

Of interest is the fact that Infinity captured two spots. The Iyashi didn’t take top honors but is an exceptional chair by any reckoning and may have a combination of features you personally like better.

That’s also the case with the two American-made chairs, the Luraco and the Daiwa. Although they didn’t win, the fact that they’re American-Made, coupled with their exceptional array of features may make them the top picks for some of our readers.

Here’s a quick recap of why you might prefer one over the other:

The reality is that any of these chairs provide you with years of reliable service, and all will do wonders for your sciatica or any other back, neck, shoulder, or leg pain you might have or develop. These are among the best chairs on the market today.

So, which one’s your favorite? Do you agree with our top pick, or do you find yourself gravitating toward one of the others?

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REFERENCES & RESOURCES

• Kahuna, Official Brand Website.
• Infinity, Official Brand Website.
• Luraco, Official Brand Website.
• Daiwa, Official Brand Website.
• Massage Can Aid in Pain Relief, American Massage Therapy Association.
• A Critical Analysis of Chromotherapy and Its Scientific Evolution, National Center for Biotechnology Information.