Finding gifts for men seems to be more difficult than for women. Most women have difficult time to find the right gift men. One thing you should remember is that men always like gadgets and practical gifts.

So for anyone who already started considering their holiday gift shopping, I thought I would write a few posts dedicated to popular health and wellness items that are inexpensive and reasonably priced.

Body Massager

Body Massagers are great for people who are stressed, tense, or who have circulation problems. For trying to find an alternative to the spa massages we’re in luck, because as technology advances, so does variety. You can find massagers in all shapes and sizes, from the simple hand-rollers, to electronic massagers, to some with infrared.

What Are Infrared Massagers?

Infrared is thermal heat, and when combined with a massager, it’s great to help relax the muscles and improve circulation. With improved circulation allows better delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tired, or sore muscles. Here is a an example of a percussion massager with heat

Hand-held Infrared Massager

What kind of hand held massagers are out there?…

There are many sizes, and many shapes that are designed for a specific handling and usage. For instance, there are hand-held massagers, which are kind of curved. Or there are the traditional straight massagers. This one is designed to help you tone and firm the muscle, also called the relax and tone massager

Hand-held massager

Here is another hand held massager that I’ve found. This plug-in hand held massager can be used for different body parts. I find this very useful for massaging my back muscle. With a long grip, it’s easy to reach my back. Besides, this hand held massager is pretty light weight. Good for the ladies.  They also call it the heavy duty massager.

Heavy Duty Hand Held Massager

When shopping back massagers…

Most massagers would state a specific area they were intended for. A back massager wouldn’t be the same as a neck massager. So a small multi-purpose massager can be more practical than one big one, if you know you’re going to be tackling more than one area.

This lower back massager looks like an apple. Don’t think it’s a just delicious looking apple, this back massager comes with heat and two relaxing shiatsu massage rollers. When you put this massager at your lower back, you can feel the sensational massage….

Back Massager

If you need a more fancy back massager, here is one that I’ve found. This one covers your whole back, so you can get a full back massage. With the massage rollers moving up- and downwards it gives you a complete soothing massage. It even comes with heat.

Back Massager with Heat -

Car Seat Massager For Lonely Drivers

For people who are too busy but love their cars, or love/have to drive long distances daily – car seat massager can hit two birds with one stone. A relaxing massage to relieve the tension as traffic builds, to and from work.

Car Seat Massager

More gift ideas for men to come.  Stay tuned…

Massager Resources

• List of Body Massagers
• List Portable Massagers
• List Back Massagers

I decided to just do a quick break from my workout ab machine series, to just write something about Christmas. It’s coming, and soon it will be here, so let the gift getting begin if it hasn’t already.

Funny Christmas gifts are the alternative when you’re stumped as to what to get someone who seems to have everything, or when it can be related to some humorous memories or meaning.  Degrees of hilarity are left to the giver’s choice. The concept of funny is different for each person, so decide on what type of humor you’d like to share with your person. These types of gifts can be found in novelty stores, and some times in department stores if you poke around hard enough. Below is a list of the most common funny Christmas gifts you can find from your local store (**Rated PG**).

If you have any funny ideas or suggestions of funny gifts you saw, got or gave leave a comment. I’d love to hear it!

Funny Christmas gift ideas:

Underwear with funny prints or quotes, are always enjoyable and entertaining.

coal candy

For anyone who’s been on a plane will know, the airline pillows aren’t really pillows, but they better than other transportation providers who provide none. Long travels become agonizing as you twist and turn in your seat, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. Times like these, you hope to get a window seat so you can attempt to cozy yourself in the corner, and you’d still wake up with neck strains.

A travel pillow is a great Thanksgiving gift idea that can be used for either travel, or at home watching TV. They can relieve any neck tension or stress, by providing correct posture alignment through comfortable means.

How to pick a travel pillow…

*Recommendation: Choose a travel pillow with quality stuffing*

Most blow-up-yourself plastic pillows are often cheap, both in price and in quality. Flexible, and travel convenient as they are, they tend to leak and deflate easily, especially with to the amount of body pressure. These do not usually last long, offer no real support, and the plastic seal lining can be a little irritating on the bare neck.

Pillows with stuffing are preferable, and can be found at prices less than $50. Even though they’re not as compact as the inflatable pillows, it offers great support and comfort for all users. They usually come with a removable lining that offers easy cleaning, and soft comfort when used. Shapes vary from your regular rectangle pillow; to the “C” shape pillow that allows your head to naturally rest against the back seat.

You can find many quality pillows out there. Here are a few of our travel pillow favorites for this year’s Thanksgiving gift idea:

Buckwheat Travel Pillow

The Buckwheat Hull travel pillow is a great Thanksgiving gift idea that’s environmentally friendly, offers excellent support, and is less than $50. Finding a good quality buckwheat pillow should last a person 8 good years, so do a good inspection when you shop. Weight may be a little heavier than ideal, but the wheat allows stern support, and better air circulation; so no need to worry about smells embedding itself into the pillow interior.

buckwheat hull neck pillow

Comsoft Travel Pillow

Memory foam cushion that offers superb comfort and support during any usage. Just like the commercials for the memory foam bed mattress, the foam in the Comsoft travel pillow adjusts itself to suit your body. Designed to relieve pressure the Comsoft is comfortable, and offers great support for a proper posture head & neck alignment. You can find Comsoft pillows for about $50 online.

Comsoft Travel Neck Pillow

Tempur Neck Support Pillow

Developed by NASA, the Tempur material was originally designed to relieve the pressure experienced by astronauts. Since then, improvements for the regular earthly lifestyle has been made to provide pressure relief, comfort and sleep quality. Prices vary by store.

Tempur-pedic Neck Support Pillow

Heating pad is a great Thanksgiving gift idea that costs less than $100. Heat gifts are great for anyone who has arthritis, circulation problems, or for anyone who just wants to stay warm.  Heat wraps/pads are great, as they do not take up a lot of energy like personal heaters do. They come in all different types of sizes and materials, and their flexibility in material and design allows you to focus the heat source to targeted areas.

The Chi Ondi Heating Pad with wrap is my new founding suggestion for a Thanksgiving gift idea that’s less than $100. It has a ceramic powder pad, which helps to retain the heat longer than usual heat pads or a hot water bottle. The elastic wrap material and Velcro straps allow for secure comfort for anyone of any size.

ChiOndi Heat Wrap for upper back relief

Chi Ondi Heat Warp Benefits:

You can get a large pad to wrap around your mid-section, or you can get smaller pads to focus on specific joints.

-    100% Ceramic powder only
-    Ceramic pad retains heat longer compared to other heat pads
-    Safe, will not explode if overheated
-    No Leakage material
-    Can last 2 – 3 hours

ChiOndi Heat Wrap around the waist

How to use Chi Ondo Heating Pad:

1.    Remove the ceramic powder pad from the wrap, and microwave for no more than 3 minutes.
2.    Place ceramic pad in the wrap pocket
3.    Use wrap in desired area
**Recommendation: Avoid applying the wrap directly to skin once removed from the microwave, place an extra line of thin cloth in between.

Ceramic Joint Heating Pads

Using ice to treat injuries is one of the oldest methods of pain control. While heat is great for improving circulation, and relaxing muscles, it won’t reduce any pain or swelling. Ice is the safest, easiest, and effective way to reduce swelling, relieving pain and decreasing muscle spasms.

Ice Face Roller

A gift idea for anyone who is prone to injury, or just wants to cool their body down in general I recommend the Ice Face Roller.

This small product is travel size, lightweight, and easy to use. The size and design allows this little innovation to be a multi-purpose tool, because you can use it anywhere on your body. It also has a detachable ice barrel, so you don’t have to freeze the whole thing, and it makes it easier to clean.

Ice Face Roller

How can I use the ice face roller?

Beauty uses…

This Ice Face Roller is great for those who want to reduce any facial swelling, like puffy eyes. It can also be used to close the skin pores, either in the morning, or before applying make up. By closing up your pores you reduce the amount of dirt and toxins that gets inside your skin. This helps you maintain cleaner, healthier and younger looking skin.

Body uses…

For injuries, swelling, or pain the Ice Face Roller can easily maneuver around. The non-stick ice barrel glides around smoothly, and doesn’t cause a pool of water like a bag of ice would.

If you have other ideas on how this product can be used, please leave a comment below to share .

Whether you just want to relax, or purify the air, aromatherapy diffusers are a great way to go in any household. They can be found in different colors and designs. These diffusers can be inexpensive if found for a good price, less than $100 and the best bargain I’ve found so far. Especially in these economic times, bargains are the best.

How aromatherapy diffusers work…

These aromatherapy diffusers use essential oils to spray a nice light scent into the room, while the mist cleanses the air of pollutants and bacteria. A great way to clean the air while flu season is in session. This is a safer alternative than spraying chemicals  into the air.

It also works wonders for getting rid of the smoky smell of cigarettes/cigars in a room. But be aware that it won’t necessarily protect you from inhaling second hand smoke.

Perks:

-  Most have a timer that you can set it to turn on and off automatically
-  It only uses essential oils and water, no other chemicals
-  Purifies the air of bad smells, bacteria, and pollutants
-  Releases a light, relaxing fragrance

Aromatherapy Diffuser