Customer Reviews

Cobblestone Mat

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Being a reflexologist (Member of the International Institute of Reflexology and of the Association of Reflexologists in the UK), to me this is without a doubt the best self-help reflexology tool I have seen so far. I use it on myself and I have my patients use it. It replicates a natural cobblestone walkway such as the ones you would find everywhere in Asia in parks. Not only does the entire Asian continent use this therapy daily to remain in good health, furthermore the cobblestone-mat was developped by the Oregon Research Institute and scientifically proven as effective.
It will be painful at first as is clinical reflexology when done properly, which is why you need to follow the program that comes with the mat and gradually get used to its feel. This is not a foot massage tool, it's a powerful health tool. The pain is a mere reflection of the cobblestones reaching deep into the reflexes of the foot, meaning that they act on the health areas of the feet (corresponding to all the body parts and organs) that need it. Once you get used to the feel of the mat, you'll love it. All my patients do. I find that the mat is most pleasant to use when placed on a carpet in your home or in the grass in your garden. It's a shame that in the Western world we do not have natural cobblestone walkways like in Asia and this is the best alternative.

I've used this mat every day for more than a year. The results were truly unique and different from any other reflexology or exercise product I've used. I felt a "reflexology effect" with an overall body "feel good" sensation. Muscles of my legs and butt shaped up. My circulation improved with better overall body warmth. One caveat: the cobbles are challenging and may produce too much pressure for some. You can wear heavy socks or place a towel over the mat to lessen the challenge. The mat is not skid proof. Be sure to place the mat on a carpeted surface, rug or yoga mat. By the way, this mat has been tested by ORI using an NIH grant. The mat helped seniors lower blood pressure, reduced concern for falls and other benefits. Cobblestone walking in parks is a part of the Chinese government's fitness program. This mat is what the Chinese walk on at home when it's raining outside. Barbara Kunz

I have been walking on my new cobblestone mat every morning for two weeks now, and I really enjoy it. It does feel very much like walking on cobblestones, and it really works the points on the bottom of my feet. I mostly walk on it wearing socks, but my plan is to begin walking on it barefoot. It hurts a bit at first, but once you get accustomed to it, it really feels good, and like it benefits your feet.

The cobblestone mat sounded too good to be true - but I just had to try it. When I received my mat I was very disappointed in the quality. It is made with a thin material as the base with little plastic pieces stuck to it for the stones. I have only used it a few times and already I have had a lot of the plastic pieces fall off. One had fallen off during shipping. They give you a few extra plastic pieces, so you know they realize there is a problem. For the price I would think they could make a higher quality mat that would hold up. I am a woman that doesn't weigh all that much. What if I weighed 150 pounds or more? So far I have not seen any improvement in my blood pressure, but like I said I haven't been using it very long. I am wondering if it will manage to bring my blood pressure down before all the plastic pieces fall off.

As soon as I got this out of the box and rolled it out, many of the rocks broke off. Very cheaply made. Returned.

I have never purchased anything so shoddy for so much money in all the time I have been buying over the internet. The cobblestone mat (plastic nodules on a cheap runner) arrived with broken pieces and was obviously put together by kindergarten children. I wrote the manufacturer and they said I had to write to you for any refund. I have not done that as frankly I was embarrassed for Amazon and myself for falling for this bogus advertising and shelling out over $40.00 for it. Consider this review my request for a refund since you asked me for the review. Junk - nothing but junk.

Howard Chester

This is a very cheaply made mat with plastic cobblestone which only looks like real ones. The mat itself is thin and made of cheap polyester and plastic "cobblestones" attached to it just fall off one after another over the time. The whole thing might do the work it is supposed to do . But if you are really in for this kind of thing I would say go for a real one which works better, feels much better and looks definitely much much better .

The mat sold on this web page is made by Fitter First. I have heard that walking on cobblestones can improve your health (not sure if it's true, hence the 4 stars), and I tried this one at a friend's house and decided to buy it. I think my friend got it for around $65 (the exact same one!) in a catalog, so after seeing this price I bought it from Amazon. It is about the same price here as on the Fitter First website. Yes, it is plastic, but it should do the same thing as stones, and I doubt that the plastic will break off too easily. Even if it does, there are a few replacement pieces in the box.

I got this mat a couple weeks ago because I like having reflexology done. It's an awesome product and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to be able to do reflexology to yourself simply and at home. The cobblestones are plastic and come with replacements in case but I've had no problem with them at all and they're very sturdy. I like walking across it but I find that you can stand in place and rock back and forth creating a great massage. I am definitely recommending it to anyone reading this. I also want to mention that I can walk on this without socks on and it feels fine but if you need to start with socks on then do that, but I think it feels great and I walk on it barefoot.

There are 2 big problems with the mat:
1) The plastic pieces are cheaply made and fall out.
2) The "stones" are too far apart.

I've walked on real cobblestones for this purpose and the pieces need to be much closer together, in fact touching each other. And the plastic pieces here are too sharp. If you look at real cobblestones you'll find that most are more rounded.

The solution for me was pretty simple, I went out and got a bucket of real stones and sprinkled them on to the mat (they have to be similar sizes) so that the empty spaces were filled up.

Now walking on the mat feels much better and much more relaxing. It should have been made that way.