The Thumbsaver was invented over 10 years ago by Greg Polins and has turned into a necessary part of any massage therapist’s tool kit. I remember Greg had been massaging for a few years and started complaining about how his own body, especially his hands, wrists and thumbs, were hurting. He started to worry that maybe his career as a massage therapist was over.
His idea was to create a tool that supported the thumb from all sides which would reduce stress to the joints, too. He also wanted to make sure that he could keep it affordable so that anyone could keep their joints, hands, wrists, and thumbs pain free.
He gave me one of the first ones to try. I had been massaging for almost 10 years at this time so at first it seemed a little awkward. But once I got the hang of it I realized how much deeper I could get into muscles with very little effort and how less fatigued my hands felt. I started becoming creative with it and found that I was putting less and less stress on my thumbs, of course, but also on my wrists and hands. (more…)