Roleo Helps Guitarists Play Again!
I invented the Roleo Arm and Hand Massage while working as a massage therapist for a well-known Los Angeles area spa company, doing up to 35 hours a week of massaging, plus a few private clients on off days. The massage therapy profession is famous for being tough on practitioners’ bodies. Massage schools now teach body mechanics and selfcare as part of the required curriculum, because statistics show that the average massage therapy career lasts all of two years! Self-care and using proper body mechanics can help therapists extend their careers and continue to earn income from their profession.
Backs, necks, legs, arms, hips shoulders... all of these areas can become problematic for massage therapists, or for anyone who spends a lot of time on their feet, or doing any number of repetitive actions. But for many hobbies and professions, the arms, wrists and hands are more likely to show symptoms of repetitive strain than other parts of the body, and these symptoms, if they aren’t treated promptly (or better yet, avoided entirely by taking preventive measures) can cause lost work time and workers’ compensation claims, or worse, end careers entirely.
The Roleo was my idea to address hand and wrist issues in the massage therapy workplace, and massage therapists have enthusiastically embraced the product. I have spoken to many therapists about how the Roleo has helped them enjoy their work again and prolong their careers.
But I’m not only a massage therapist. Since childhood, I’ve been a musician and have spent a lot of time with other musicians in various bands and orchestras. So while I invented the Roleo primarily to help massage therapists, it quickly became obvious that many other professionals and hobbyists could also benefit from the preventive and treatment benefits of using the Roleo every day. And while we received thanks from athletes, therapists, hair stylists, dental hygienists, and so on, one of the groups we hear most from are musicians, mostly guitar players (especially gratifying for me as I have been a guitarist my whole life), but also drummers and pianists, telling us how the Roleo has helped them.
I’d like to share a few of my most treasured testimonials, and not merely to illustrate how great a selfcare tool the Roleo is, and it is also the only non-electric selfcare tool for hands, wrists and forearms that provides its own massage pressure and can be used “hands-free” because with the included suction cups the device can be firmly fixed to any smooth surface, horizontal, vertical, or in between. These testimonials are especially rewarding because of how these musicians share the happiness and relief they experienced after using the Roleo and realizing they could play again.
“As a professional guitarist, the onset of wrist tendinitis and possible carpal tunnel was not good news. And when a hand doctor only gave me a wrist brace and said "If it hurts, don't do it", I was left completely in the dark. Physical Therapy was an option...but prior experience with ultra-sound, electricity, and laser treatments.......seemed like a waste of time. Then I found the Roleo, invented by a massage therapist looking to make an inexpensive product that could offer real help to those similarly afflicted. Just the idea that my wrist and hand pain could be caused by a problem "upstream" (closer to the elbow) was a revelation. And as soon as I began using this wonderful device —tailored to the condition, I knew I had struck gold. The bottom line is I can now play a guitar without any pain. And Paul, the Roleo inventor has become a real-life hero to me. Thank you.”
-Dan Axelrod, jazz musician and historian, New York, NY
“I have to tell you how incredible this product is for me. I was a dedicated guitarist for 7 years and had to stop a few months back and convert over to piano due to left hand cramping. The 1st time I used my Roleo, I was impressed so much, and within a few days I was playing guitar again. I spent the last few days smiling… I am back as a guitarist… this devise gave me back my musicianship.”
- Keith A., July, 2014
“I have treated thousands of professional touring musicians and have seen great results by recommending the Roleo massager for issues ranging from tendinitis, carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, DeQuervain's and trigger finger. Proper home-care is key when treating or preventing repetitive strain injuries and the Roleo is both a simple and effective tool. “
-Dr. Charlie Kautz, DC "The Musician's Physician"
Many customers tell me they thought the only way for them to deal with the pain in their hands and arms was to stop the activity that caused the pain in the first place. If a person is a professional (guitarist, therapist, etc.), that means they can’t continue to make a living, and if they are musical hobbyists (or artists of any type, or into knitting, gardening, or other hand-intensive hobbies), that means giving up something they love to do that adds to their quality of life. The thing that is most gratifying, then, is when I hear that using our product enabled them to get their lives back, to return to the thing they love to do, or to be able to go back to work.
It's important, as a business, to have sustained success, in our case in the form of sales. And we do. But the thing that makes it really worthwhile is that our Roleo doesn’t just help people with their pain. It has the potential to help them return to activities they love, that they thought they might no longer be able to do, and to continue to make a living in their chosen profession.
Other products do a lot of different things. Some have more applications for different parts of the body, but with those products, the user must exert some kind of force to create the pressure needed to treat the pain. All you do with Roleo is slide your hand, wrist and arm between the rollers, in and out, slowly or quickly. You can hold your phone with your other hand. Or a sandwich. You can use it anywhere at any time, and it’s easy. Just a few minutes a day is enough.
Roleo only does one thing: treating and preventing symptoms of repetitive strain in the forearms, wrists and hands, and we think it does that better than any other product. Have back pain? Leg soreness? There are products for those too, but they can’t take care of hands like the Roleo.
- Paul massageuco@aol.com
