This device is subtle. Whereas some therapeutic "toys" sort of shout their relief—think of actively rolling atop a foam roller and cracking some troublesome vertebrae, with this device you lay still and let gravity slowly work the relief. For me, the convex/gentle option yields no feeling; the concave/strong traction option is great. However, because the base slips (at least on berber carpet), the Relaxer wants and insists on sliding down until it seats against the shoulders. Thus there is one position in which you can let it take your weight without slipping further. That said, when you do let it take your weight and lay still with your head 1-2" off the floor, you slowly realize how well it supplies traction relief. This is a very "quiet" "body toy"… and a great addition to a body management toolset.

Most of the pictures show the person laying on it with the lip facing them (the concave position), but I found it more comfortable to start with the lip facing away, which is a more gentle stretch, and then turning it around once my muscles relaxed enough. So far it feels good in the short term, but I haven't been using it long enough to see if there are any long term benefits for me.

I LOVE this product, but not for the advertised purpose which is why it gets 4 stars instead of 5. Trust me, it's better than the 1 I originally was going to give it. I roll on a high-density foam roller daily for chronic shoulder knots and pain due to working from home 10+ hours a day at a mismatched and second-hand computer desk and chair. The foam roller happens to also crack me decently in the cervical and thoracic part of my back. My lumbar area, however, wasn't being taken care of with the foam roller because my spine had hardly any support as I would lean back against it, and it was uncomfortable in a bad way. So I started searching Amazon, and Chirp looks great, but I'm not sold on having to buy all 3 products for full range of support for anywhere near $100, much less $119 where it's at now. So I buy a couple back stretchers and this thing for more than half the price of the Chirp. When I placed this thing under my neck and let it hang, absolutely nothing happened. I felt zero relief for any type of discomfort. I thought it was a joke and I hardly bother with sending stuff back, but I was definitely going to send THIS back. I thought "what a waste of money" on this thing. Then I started to press my neck harder against it trying to get some type of relief. I started to move it further down my back, and then I placed it at the base of my back. I began to lean back, but at that angle, I just kind of fell back to the ground, and my lower back immediately gave way and popped in sooooo mannnnyy amazing ways. A lot of great cussing ensued while I just laid there for a while. I FINALLY got the relief that my foam roller couldn't give me! It felt like so much built-up tension was finally released. Before you send this back, try leaning back on this with it at the base of your back. You might find a favorite new back stretcher.

This device was very comfortable to use. The natural stretch in your neck is felt right away. I tend to have stress in my neck and after using this device, I noticed less tension.

This product is NOT for everyone. My friends have tried it and have found that they hate it. Very few might find this helpful as it’s retry much stretching out your neck. It doesn’t irk like I though it would, and should be slightly softer, but if you have neck pain and stiff neck then you might want to try it out.