Gokhale Method Stretchsit Cushion Lumbar Support/backrest for Chairs/car Seats - Spinal Traction/Decompression for Relief from Lower Back Pain, Neck Pain, Shoulder Pain, Fibromyalgia

Well made and comfortable

I really love this product for cars that have headrests that shoot forward.I have not found it to work as well for older cars that don't have foward reaching headrests but different concerns. My main car is a 2000 Subaru that does not have the headrest issue. The seat isn't perfect as it has bolsters on the side that slightly roll my shoulders forward. Using the cushion makes in that car allows my shoulders to roll back but means my head can't rest safely and naturally against the headrest as it should. I have tried towels and others things in that car, but have just had to make due with the slight shoulder issues the seat causes.However in the newer Subarus that my husband has had over the years I desperately need this cushion to avoid pain. The cushion works perfectly to compensate for the headrest and bolsters that force your body into a slumped position. It did take some getting used to though and I can't say it works perfectly as described on the Gokhale website, but I still love it as it accomplishes it's main goal in the right car.My main problem is not being able to stretch sit with it in a car situation. First, when I use it to stretch sit as outlined in the Gokhale method my clothes tend to be the thing that clings to the cushion, my skin underneath just slides right back to where it is and I don't get any stretch but end up with my shirt bunched up higher on my torso. Second, as soon as I turn to check my blind spot I've lost any semblance of a stretch sit position and cannot safely go through the major motions of acquiring it again while actively driving a vehicle. None of these are huge issues because I've given up being able to actually get a stretch from the stretch sit position while driving, but it does allow me to keep my body in a good position which is enough for me at the moment.I do want to add that my husband hated it at first (and still claims to but uses it). He has not read about or followed any of the Gokhale method principles, so for him it was an extremely weird cushion. One of his shoulders always goes numb on long road trips, so after that happened once I convinced him to try the cushion again and walked him through how to use it (granted, I am no expert so I'm sure my instruction was faaaar from perfect). He used it on the long drive back and said it was uncomfortable, but he didn't have a numb shoulder so he now tolerates it being in his car all the time. So, I do think the take away from that is it really is important to follow the videos or blog tutorials on how to use the cushion if you don't know anything about the Gokhale method but still want to try the cushion. It might not feel as "comfy" as leaning against some of the soft plushy foamy car cushions on the market, but in the grand scheme of things you will probably end up in less pain caused by driving.

I just purchased a 2014 Tacoma Regular Cab with a bench seat. I was excited to get something with a bench seat but I had no idea it'd be that painful to sit in. I also developed sciatica from when I was a younger lad, pushing too many shopping carts at once.My regular commute is 30 min each way. At about the 20 minute mark, my back and right leg will start throbbing in pain. 8 out of 10 on the pain scale. I did some research and decided to swap the bench seat for a bucket seat. But before I pulled the trigger, I decided to try some lumbar pillows first. I tried 3 different pillows on Amazon that wrapped around the sides of the seat. Having a bench seat, I was forced to just let the pillow sit, unattached to anything.Doing some MORE reading, I stumbled across this pillow. I impulse bought it and it arrived to my work a couple days later. I initially thought the strap buckle would dig in to my back. It did not. My drive home was painless. My drive to work the next day was painless. I decided to take a longer trip on the weekend that lasted 1 hour each way. Pain started developing at around the 40 minute mark but it was a subtle pain. 4 out of 10 on the pain scale.Overall, I'm happy with the product but it wasn't a cure-all for me. It just staved off an unnecessarily expensive seat swap. I think the key with this item is to remember the instructions and make sure you arch your shoulders back at all times. The second I start slouching, the pain starts creeping.

I had back surgery over 30 years ago and suffered consistently until more than 10 years ago I read Esther Gokhale's book "8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back" and even though it eliminated 95% of my pain I looked at this little back cushion for the car and thought, "No way" could that make a difference. And even though driving was the only time my back would consistently still hurt (even on a short trip to the shop) I still refused to spend the money. But my wife ignored my wishes and bought it for me just before leaving on a nearly 11,000 mile road trip in a Prius, where I was the only one driving. Not a day of those 3 months of driving passed without thanking my wife and Esther Gokale, and not one day of that trip or since did my back hurt again.

I have no kyphosis/"hunchback" and my neck is pretty much where it should be posture wise. I recently bought a 2017 Subaru Outback, and the head rests jut way too far forward, pushing my neck and head into an uncomfortable position. I purchased this to eliminate that problem.While it does fill the space behind my upper back and eliminate the issue of my head being forced forward, I am very aware of it being only a small rectangle that ends where my shoulder blades are. So there's new pressure points where I lean back into this thing, and on longer trips I end up getting pain along the actual sides of this device in my shoulder blades. I followed instructions exactly as written on the tags for how to adjust and utilize it, I just think it's an issue of it being a small item that doesn't cover your whole back. Imagine leaning against on a chair whose back was only the size of a piece of paper...not likely to be comfortable. I wanted this to work but the design just doesn't make sense (for me).