So, maybe I’m weird, but my favorite massage is a hand massage. And I don’t mean a massage of my body with someone’s hands, I mean a massage of my actual hands. Thumb on the palm, applying massage pressure from the palm up through each finger. Squeeze the hand. Etc. I carry my stress in my hands, I think.
Unfortunately, not many people know how to do it right. I’m teaching my girlfriend, but she’s not around 24/7 and won’t be around when I most need a hand massage (at work, for example).
I’d love to find a machine that gives hand massages. I sat in a Brookstone 0 Gravity Massage Chair that did a hand/arm massage and it was amazing, but it’s $3000. I can’t swing that (and the chair itself supposedly has some problems), so I’m looking to find a standalone version of the hand/arm massager.
Sorry no one’s come up with a good massager for you. Had a girlfriend who was a writer-- wrote long-hand, and she would rub her own hands. And bite them. Hey, don’t laugh-- it feels great, esp. if your hands are getting tired.
I don’t know if you’d be comfortable as a male doing this, but any cheapo manicure place should give them and you can at least get a buff and file. Please don’t think being a male in those placed is weird. It’s not at all. My best friend’s 80 year-old dad gets a basic mani pedi every 2 weeks. The comfort issue would be solely in your own head.
Could you not massage one hand with the other? I tried it just then, and it appears the balls of my thumbs are a bit cramped and tender, but I can apply enough pressure with one thumb to massage the other. Crude amateur acupressure-type techniques seems to work well too, as the muscles of the hand are quite small. Find the point of maximum tenderness of the muscle, and apply firm pressure with fingertips or thumb for about 30 seconds. As a rough rule of thumb, if you like, if pressure on a muscle causes pain then it’s in need of attention.
Or you could use mechanical assistance with an electric massager. I’ve used the Homedics Palm Percussion for a few years now, and it’s powerful enough to sort out all my upper body muscles, though it’s not quite up to the job of thigh muscles, they really need a strong masseuse to lean into them. Alas this particular model is getting hard to get hold of (I think it’s being phased out), which is a shame as it’s quite the best of its type that I’ve come across - another model I tried I had to get a refund on as the motor was so weak I could stall it with my fingertips. Others might be better - I haven’t tried them all - so have a shop around, you should be able to pick up something usable for $50 or less.