The Acupressure Mat That Rides Along on Every Camping Trip

My lower back has been my travel companion for 31 years, ever since I leaned over a dental chair for a living. By the time I retired, I had a collection of back gadgets, and most of them stayed home. The ProsourceFit acupressure mat is the one that rides along on every camping trip now, and it was almost an accident that I found it.

Ray does most of the driving, but even riding shotgun leaves me stiff by the time we hit Tennessee. A bad motel mattress makes it worse. I used to wake up in the morning and have to roll out of bed sideways, then stand at the bathroom sink for a few minutes before I could straighten up.

I ordered the ProsourceFit mat and pillow set before one of our trips because I was tired of arriving in Florida feeling like I had been folded into the trunk. The first morning I used it, I lay on it for about 15 minutes while the coffee brewed. It was not comfortable, exactly, but it was a different kind of uncomfortable, the kind that tells you something is working.

The mat is basically a bed of nails, which sounds worse than it is. The spikes are plastic, and they press into your back while you lie still. The first time, you will want to put a towel over it. After a few sessions, you will not.

Now the mat goes in the camper before the dishes do. It lives under the dinette seat, and when we stop for the night, I pull it out, lay it on the floor, and give myself ten minutes before dinner. Ray has started using it too, mostly for his shoulders after a long day of driving.

Last spring we drove from Michigan to Florida in two days. By the time we crossed into Georgia, my back was screaming. We stopped at a motel outside Valdosta, and I pulled the mat out of the back seat before I even unpacked the suitcase. Fifteen minutes on the floor of that motel room, and I could bend over to tie my shoes again. That is when it became a permanent part of the packing list.

Fifteen minutes on the mat while the coffee brews is the difference between a stiff morning and a normal one.

The Routine That Stuck

The set comes with a small pillow too, and I use it for my neck on nights when the motel pillow is too flat or too fat. It is the same idea, smaller, and it fits in the side pocket of my suitcase.

I will not tell you it cured my back. Nothing has, and I have tried a lot of things. What I can tell you is that the mat does what it says: it applies pressure, it makes you lie still, and it takes the edge off the kind of ache that builds up over a long day. It is not a substitute for the stretches my physical therapist gave me, and I still do those. I know some people expect a cure from anything that claims to help with back pain. I have been there. I have bought the gadgets and been disappointed. This one is different because it does not promise more than it can deliver.

It is manual, which I like. There are no batteries, no cords, nothing to charge. It weighs a pound and a half, and it is small enough to tuck behind the seat. You can use it on the floor of a camper, on a motel carpet, or on the rug at home. It is not water resistant, so I keep it off the damp bathroom floor, but that is an easy habit.

If you have a lower back that complains after long drives, gardening, or a bad night's sleep, this is worth trying. If you are looking for a cure for serious back pain, talk to your doctor or physical therapist first. This is a tool, not a treatment.

We rent the same condo in Florida every winter, and the mat comes out of the suitcase the first morning. It is the first thing I unpack. I keep it under the bed, and on days when we walk the dogs on the beach or spend the morning in the garden, I give myself ten minutes on it before lunch. It is not a big production. It is just a quiet ten minutes.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

I would tell you that the ProsourceFit mat is one of the few back gadgets I have kept. I would tell you to start slow, ten minutes a day, and to put a towel over it the first week. I would tell you to use it before you are in pain, not after, and to keep your expectations reasonable. And I would tell you that if your back is really bothering you, see someone. No mat replaces a doctor.