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| Photo courtesy of Pax Vita |
I first heard about the
Pax Vita Acupressure mat in a product review on someone else’s blog. I thought it sounded like a very intriguing product and as it can help to get rid of back pain (something my Mum suffers with) I emailed them to see if they would consider sending me one out to review here on My Mummy Reviews.
They said that would be fine and very promptly posted out a Pax Vita mat to me. I had told my Mum to expect the parcel but when it arrived she didn’t realise that the packet was the Pax Vita mat and promptly ripped open the paper and poked her fingers on the spikes. I thought it was really funny as if she couldn’t even manage to touch the spikes with her fingers, how on earth would she manage to stand or sit on the mat??
Well…. my Mum wasn’t the first one to try the
Pax Vita mat out. My sister-in-law stepped up to the challenge and was the first one to attempt sitting on it and then lying down on it. As she survived the ‘bed of nails’ we then all had a go at using it! It was lots of fun egging each other on to try using the mat but in actual fact it is not too painful once you have got used to the feeling of the spikes on your skin. It is more a case of overcoming your nerves at the prospect of putting your weight on the spikes. We all found standing on it quite difficult but you can place the mat on a chair and sit on it without too much difficulty. As time progresses you can spend longer on the mat and change how you use it…maybe lie on it
face down or roll it up and use it behind your neck.
The Pax Vita Acupressure mat is a blue cotton mat with 224 small triangle pads attached. Each of these pads has 27 spikes on it. This means the mat has a total of 6,048 spikes a.k.a acupressure points on it. WOW!
The idea is that you sit, stand or lie down on the mat and the tiny points stimulate the skin and provide you with an acupressure treatment. After you have been using the mat you will see little impressions in your skin from the spikes. These are called “Sha” and will fade away quite quickly. I quite like to see the little Sha spots as I feel it is like proving to yourself that you have been using the mat effectively. . . plus it makes you look brave! 🙂
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| Photo courtesy of Pax Vita |
When you use the Pax Vita mat it increases your body’s own natural endorphin levels (natural pain relievers) and stimulates your body to produce Oxytocin (a relaxing hormone). I don’t know much about these things but I do know that I used a TENS machine for some of my labour and they too help to increase your body’s endorphin levels and I found that the increase of endorphin levels really did help to take away some of the pain of labour. So much so that I was not impressed when I had to take my TENS machine off to have my epidural! If the Pax Vita works on the same principle of naturally increasing your body’s pain relief then I’d say it is worth a go. I’m sure different people will get different results from using the mat but I’d say that the Pax Vita mat is a good natural alternative that you should consider when trying to treat a condition. According to the website the Pax Vita mat is reported to help you lower your stress levels and to increase your energy levels. It can help with menstrual problems, insomnia and back pain, Using it can improve your circulation, focus and digestion and it should help you to relax and meditate. It sounds like the Pax Vita mat can really make a difference to your wellbeing.
My Mum has been using the Pax Vita mat for the last 6 weeks or so and she swears it has made a difference to her back pain. She doesn’t really know how or why it has made such a difference (although there is lots of info on the theory and the science behind it
here) but she is just glad it has! She feels much better in herself since she has been using the Pax Vita mat and she would highly recommend it to you all. She likes the fact that the product is such a simple design. . . . all she has to do is lay the mat over the seat and then sit down on it and lean in to the back of the chair. My Mum has had back pain on and off for years and she had never thought of trying acupressure. To be honest, if I hadn’t seen the review of the Pax Vita mat on another blog and asked for them to send me one, I don’t think she would have ever thought of buying the Pax Vita Acupressure mat to give it a go. This is why I like writing My Mummy Reviews…because without having been given the opportunity by Pax Vita to test out and keep their product then we would probably have looked at the £49.95 price tag of the mat and thought it is not worth spending the money in case it doesn’t work. Now after testing out the product and reviewing it we know that we would have been missing out by not taking a chance and buying one.
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Photo showing the Pax Vita mat on a chair. You can see
where the back of the mat is going up the back of the chair. |
If you are a parent you probably continually suffer from aches and pains. I know I do! It is not just carrying your child that puts strain on your body but pushing the pram, carrying all the bags of shopping, lifting your child in and out of their cot , doing the housework and of course all the running around you do when looking after a young child or children. As this mat can be used effectively by lying on it for as little as just 15 minutes a day then it is the perfect way to relax for a quarter of an hour while your little one watches a kids programme or has a nap.
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| Photo showing the spikes on the Pax Vita mat. |
The Pax Vita mat is not shipped with any instructions as they want to be eco-friendly. You can read the
instructions on their website. Personally I think it would be much more useful if they sent some instructions with the mat as when you receive the Pax Vita you just want to have a go at using it and you don’t want to have to turn on the internet (if you have it at home) just to find out how to use it properly. Also, not everyone has the internet at home and so it wouldn’t be very convenient to have to find somewhere you could go to access the Internet just so you can read the instructions online. I feel a sheet of instructions on some
eco-friendly paper that can then be recycled would be much better.
One way Pax Vita recommend that you use the mat is to lie on it with a bare back and have a small cushion under your head. The mat should be in contact with your skin from the bottom of your back to your skull. You can lie on the mat for between 15 and 60 minutes each time. You don’t need to be suffering from a particular pain to use the Pax Vita mat as even without any pains you should start to feel more relaxed and de-stressed after using the mat. The name Pax Vita translates from Latin to mean ‘Peaceful Life’ which I think is quite fitting for a product like this.
According to statistics one in six people in Sweden uses a Pax Vita mat daily . . . they must all be convinced it works so it must be worth you trying it too.
As far as Pax Vita know the ancient concept of lying on acupressure points originates from India as far back as 5000 years ago.
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Photo showing the Pax Vita mat on a chair. You can see
where the back of the mat is going up the back of the chair. |
Alternative names for mats using acupressure points are as follows:- Bed of Nails, Shakti Mat, Acupress Mat, Spike Mat, The Indian Fakir Mat, The Russian spike mat, Relaxing mat, Yantra Mat, Acupressure Mat, Acumat, Tibetan Mat, Kung Fu Mat, Nail Mat, Prananailmat, Pranamat ECO, Fakirmat, Nails of Bliss, Kuznetov Applicator, Panacea etc.
The company who sell the Pax Vita mat are based in Kent and they have the exclusive marketing rights for the UK and Ireland. The mats are produced in a factory in India and no child labour or race discrimination is present in the factory. The Pax Vita mat is ethically sourced and they manufacture them using modern machinery and 100% local cotton.
Here are some important notes:-
- Do not use the mat if you suffer from any skin allergies, malignant and benign tumours, thrombophlebitis(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrombophlebitis)
- If you are pregnant please consult your physician before using the mat.
- Pax Vita treatment and ideas we share here are not meant to replace medical advice in anyway.
- Use under supervision with children.
- Not for use on infants or animals
There are lots of customer testimonials on the Pax Vita website. If you would like to see them please click here.
Pax Vita offer a 10-day Money-Back Guarantee! They say if you are not 100% satisfied with your product, you can return it for any reason within 10 days and they will happily refund the purchase price. You can see more details here. Now that makes the prospect of buying one very tempting doesn’t it.
If you too are intrigued by the Pax Vita Mat why not
buy one and give it a try yourself. Pax Vita have kindly offered my readers a £20 discount when they use the code MYMUM20. This means that you can buy the mat for the low price of £29.95 instead of the usual £49.95. Bargain! The voucher code is valid until the end of July 2011.
If you would like to ask any questions about the Pax Vita mat you can contact them on info@paxvita.com or phoning them on 01227 477 070.
A Pax Vita mat would make a great gift for a birthday, mother’s day, new mum or Christmas. But don’t forget you could always just treat yourself. If it helps to make you feel even a tiny bit less stressed and more relaxed then it has to be worth the money.
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| Photo courtesy of Pax Vita |
