A lot of us have been on post-pandemic health kicks or just relishing a return to the sports and fitness regimens we enjoyed before COVID-19 derailed everything. Subsequently, many of us (raises hand) might have overexerted ourselves.

Unfortunately, a few minutes of post-workout stretching isn’t always enough to relieve the aches and pains of a Couch to 5K excursion. While several popular massage gadgets have hit the market over the last few years, the pandemic has led to many seeking out recovery methods that don’t require coming face to face with a massage therapist. These gadgets might not measure up to a professional’s hands, but they may help. We’ve researched and tested all of the following picks, including percussive therapy guns, compression therapy tech, and even some analog accessories that don’t require charging.

About me

I’m not an athlete, but I’ve had several chapters in my fitness journey over the years. I have a black belt in Judo, and am currently trying to perfect a backflip. I sweat my way through HIIT and weight training classes five times a week. And because of all these things, I have my own particular aches and pains, especially with my knee, neck and shoulders.

When testing some of these devices, I used them daily for over a week. Depending on what kind of recovery gadget it was, I would spend at least 15 minutes targeting stiff areas, alongside stretches. I’ve intermittently been using some of these accessories, like a foam roamer, for years.

The basics

Foam roller

Trigger Point

There’s no vibrating function here, just a cylinder-shaped piece of foam (sometimes plastic or rubber) for you to gingerly roll yourself across. I’ve personally enjoyed some relief from knee issues (combined with recovery exercises and guidance from my physio) and found that it helped loosen up tight quads.

The great thing about a foam roller is its versatility. There are exercises for the shoulders, back muscles, the iliotibial (IT) band and every other part of your leg. Many rollers come with basic diagrams to try out, but you can also follow along with many YouTube videos; just search for a specific tight area.

If you’re new to foam rolling, I’d suggest this one from Trigger Point, which is gentler on your tender muscles than some of the plastic-molded options.

Trigger point massage balls

These rigid massage balls, usually the size of a tennis ball, offer a trigger point massage that helps tackle knots in your shoulder blade, or that tight corner of your glutes. Place the ball on a yoga mat (or carpet) and position your problem area over the ball, using your body weight to apply force. Relief isn’t just limited to the floor either. Try positioning the ball between your back – or shoulder – and a wall. There are several guides online, but this set of balls, with differing levels of stiffness, should ensure you feel the pressure at just the right level.

Bolster

This recommendation comes from my colleague Valentina Palladino, who loves this bolster for improving her yoga habit. Bolsters are firm pillows that come in several shapes and sizes which help many yoga practitioners maintain proper posture in certain movements, due to lack of flexibility or minor injuries.

According to Valentina: “While I definitely don’t stretch as much as I should, this bolster that I originally bought solely for yoga practice has come in handy when I do sit on the mat for a 10-minute, post-run stretch. I mostly use it for back extensions, placing the bolster underneath my lower back so I can get a gentle spinal decompression.

She adds: “There are dedicated back stretchers you can buy that do something similar, but I have come to prefer the bolster for its supportive comfort and its versatility. I still use it during yoga sessions as a tool to get deeper into certain movements, and it provides extra support in sitting poses.”

Percussive therapy and massage guns

Mat Smith/Engadget

Should you splurge on something a little more powerful and expensive, though? There is established evidence that manual hand massage helps to reduce pain, but there’s less supporting data for many of the benefits claimed by percussive therapy devices.

Depending on the company and the device, some claims (like improved performance or range of motion) are backed up by small studies, but others (including reduced cellulite and sped-up muscle recovery) are not.

Dr. Kelly Starrett, Athlete Performance Advisor for Hyperice (and founding mobility expert for CrossFit) told Engadget: “When we are trying to change how the brain interprets information from the body’s tissue systems as threatening or unsafe; vibration, percussion, and even heat can help us feel better.”

My own experience tracks with this: using one with a targeted approach to tight areas feels good and can help you prime your body ahead of a workout without overexerting yourself.

If you’ve seen the Instagram ads, you already know there are many massage guns to choose from, but our picks come from two of the most prominent players in the field, Therabody’s Theragun and Hyperice’ HyperVolt series.

Theragun Prime

Mat Smith/Engadget

We’ve touched on the benefits of the Theragun Prime before, but it’s the company’s unique triangle design that helps its devices stand out. It offers multiple ways to grip the Theragun and help target trickier parts of the body. As one of the more premium massage devices, you get 16mm amplitude (typically only beaten by devices several hundred dollars more) and speeds of up to 2,400 percussions per minute.

The Prime comes with three extra attachments in addition to the standard ball: a cone, a dampener with a flattened head, and a thumb attachment, which can help dig deeper.

Therabody’s latest family of percussive therapy devices is also quieter than older Theraguns – and most of the competition – but it certainly isn’t silent.

HyperVolt 2 Pro

The HyperVolt 2 Pro has a more conventional design, but I prefer its dial for switching between different speeds. It, too, comes with extra head attachments, including a fork attachment, a flat wedge and a cushioned head.

This is the premium flagship Hypervolt, so it offers the fastest speeds (faster than even the Theragun Prime). However, while it's also quieter than the Prime, it is a little trickier to maneuver into difficult tight spots without assistance from someone else.

These devices are generally safe in most use cases, but check out each company’s safety guideline pages. It’s sensible to talk to your doctor before use if you’re pregnant, have had recent surgery or have any existing skin or nerve system conditions.

Hyperice Hypersphere

Mat Smith/Engadget

Hyperice has also combined its vibration tech with the targeted relief of a massage ball. The Hypersphere (and HyperSphere mini) include three levels of vibration and an easy-to-understand LED read-out to gauge battery life and intensity levels. In addition, the shape adds a different degree of versatility, as you don’t need to reach with your arm to where you might need relief.

It’s also got a rubber coating that helps it stay in place if you’re not stretching or massaging on a yoga mat. Notably, the smaller Mini has a more powerful motor and is more comparable in size to a lacrosse ball. Despite a more powerful motor and roughly identical battery life, it's more affordable than the bigger model. Most will find the Mini the better option, but the larger Hypersphere, I found, worked well on my lower back and chest, as it raised my body further off the ground, increasing the targeted pressure.

Therabody RecoveryAir

Therabody, the company behind Theragun, has branched out into several additional recovery products. The company also offers a vibrating foam roller and ball, but its RecoveryAir series is entirely different, using controlled compression to massage your legs or arms gently.

The RecoveryAir system is split into a lower (for your legs, from foot to hip) and upper body system, but the “trousers” seem like the best device for most, massaging some of the biggest muscle groups in your body. They feel particularly good after a heavy session of squats or a lengthy run.

While Therabody might be new to compression therapy, science and research into it has continued for decades, with medical compression garments as far back as the 1950s used for treating conditions following the end of World War II.

The AirRecover squeezes at your legs, stimulating your body’s circulation like – and this is a quote from a Therabody’s spokesperson – “squeezing a toothpaste tube.” It’s a relaxing sensation: the AirRecover cycles through squeezing at your feet, calves, knees, hamstrings and thighs. You can adjust both the strength of the compression and the length of the massage up to an hour. Compared with massage guns and static tissue massage, you get to be a little lazier and let the AirRecover do the work.

You can just chill on your sofa or favorite chair, watching Netflix, while it squeezes away. That ease of use comes at a high price, though: $1,299. It’s rather expensive compared to the other devices we’ve included here, but it’s also a very different experience and one that steers itself.

CVS will no longer fill prescriptions from telehealth companies Cerebral and Done Health for controlled substances. The pharmacy chain said that, following a review, it had unresolved concerns with both companies. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

"We are committed to making mental health services as accessible and convenient as possible. At the same time, it is important that medications are prescribed appropriately," CVS Health's executive director of corporate communications Mike DeAngelis told Engadget. 

"We recently conducted a review of certain telehealth companies that prescribe controlled substance medications. As a result of our being unable to resolve concerns we have with Cerebral and Done Health, effective May 26th, 2022, CVS Pharmacy will no longer accept prescriptions for controlled substances issued through these companies."

The startups have tens of thousands of patients between them, the Journal notes. They have prescribed stimulants such as Adderall for patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These stimulants are regulated and classed as schedule 2 controlled substances due to the risk of abuse.

Some other pharmacies, such as Walmart and Truepill, previously delayed or declined to fill prescriptions from the two startups. They reportedly had concerns that clinicians at Cerebral and Done were writing too many stimulant prescriptions.

It recently emerged that Cerebral is under investigation by the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Following that news, the company put prescriptions for ADHD meds for new patients on hold. Cerebral said last week it would stop prescribing most controlled substances for all patients by October. Just two days after that, its board replaced CEO Kyle Robertson.

Along with ADHD, Cerebral says it treats depression, PTSD, anxiety disorders and serious mental illnesses through therapy, counseling and, in some cases, prescriptions. Done focuses on ADHD treatment. 

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians were banned from prescribing stimulants without an in-person visit with patients. Those federal rules were loosened in March 2020 for schedule 2 substances, which enabled Cerebral and Done to start offering prescriptions after virtual consultations.

Engadget has contacted Cerebral and Done for comment.

Amazon already has a policy in place to reimburse employees up to $10,000 for travel expenses if they're having treatments for life-threatening issues. Now, it has also introduced a policy that will benefit those seeking other kinds of treatment. According to Reuters, the e-commerce giant has told its employees in the US that it will offer up to $4,000 in annual travel reimbursements for non-life threatening medical treatments, including cellular gene therapies, substance-abuse disorder services and abortions. 

Politico recently obtained an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, showing that the Supreme Court has voted to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion across the US. If Roe v. Wade truly gets overturned, then it's up to local state governments to decide whether to legalize or restrict abortion — and conservative states like Alabama, where Amazon has facilities, are expected to limit access to the procedure. 

Reuters says Amazon will reimburse travel under the new policy if a procedure is not available within 100 miles of an employees' home and long-distance/virtual treatment isn't possible. It will apply to both office and warehouse employees, as well as their dependents enrolled in Premera or Aetna health plans. It will also be retroactively applied to eligible travel that took place within this year, starting on January 1st. As the news organization notes, it shows Amazon's efforts when it comes to retaining and attracting talent for the company.

That said, Amazon has also recently ended its paid COVID leave policy for workers. It will no longer pay time off for workers that test positive for the virus and will only offer them up to five days of unpaid leave going forward.

New York State Senator Jessica Ramos and Assembly Member Latoya Joyner have introduced a new bill meant to limit production quotas for warehouse workers. The bill, called the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, takes aim at Amazon's labor practices. It expands upon and strengthens the language of a similar bill in California that was signed into law back in 2021, making the state the first in the US to have legislation that regulates warehouse quotas.

Productivity quotas prevent workers from complying with safety standards and contribute to rising injury rates in warehouse, Ramos notes in a statement. She explains that if the bill passes, it can "ease the bargaining process" for workers seeking to make demands for health purposes in their workplace. Warehouses will have to go through an ergonomic assessment of all tasks if the bill becomes a law, and companies could face penalties if they're found to be lacking. The New York State Department of Labor will enforce rules established under the bill. 

As Motherboard reports, the Warehouse Worker Protection Act will require employers with at least 50 employees in a single warehouse or 500 workers statewide to describe their productivity quotas in a written description. They also have to explain how their quotas are developed and how they can be used for disciplinary purposes. If the bill passes, it can make sure employees are giving their workers bathroom breaks and rest periods, as well.

Amazon made it to the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health's most dangerous workplaces in the US for the third time this year. The advocacy group included Amazon for having an injury rate more than double the industry average and highlighted the deaths that took place in its facility in Bessemer, Alabama. Workers' rights advocates also recently accused the e-commerce giant of using its charity work placement scheme to conceal true injury rates in its warehouses.

Watching TV with hearing aids is about to get a little easier for Amazon Fire TV Cube owners. The second generation of the Fire TV Cube will now support Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) for compatible Bluetooth-enabled Starkey hearing aids. While the ability to stream TV audio to hearing aids has been around for a while, it normally requires an additional third-party device. Not all smart TVs support Bluetooth, so many hard-of-hearing users are forced to connect their hearing aids to their smartphone or a special adapter. But Fire TV will now allow users to directly pair their hearing aids with the streaming box.

ASHA (which is a Google-led initiative) has been available for Bluetooth devices since 2020. Fire TV Cube will be the first streaming device in the US to support ASHA, but it’s a safe bet to say more platforms will be on board in the future.

In order to pair their hearing aids to their Fire TV Cube, users should select “Settings” from Fire TV’s home screen. Users should then select “Accessibility”, followed by “Hearing Aids” and follow the on-screen instructions to pair them.

One drawback to relying on Bluetooth is viewers must remain within a 10-feet distance to still pick up Fire TV’s signal. Amazon recommends that viewers connect over their hearing aids over a 5Ghz wifi network, within 10 feet and in line of sight to Fire TV Cubes. Viewers with 2.4GHz wifi can still connect to Fire TV, but should keep in mind that the strength of their signal will vary depending on spectrum congestion.

A team of UK scientists has analyzed the complete genetic makeup of 12,000 tumors from NHS patients and discovered 58 new mutations that provide clues about their potential causes. The team, comprised of scientists from Cambridge University Hospitals and the University of Cambridge, used data from the 100,000 Genomes Project. That's a British initiative to sequence the whole genomes of patients with cancers and rare diseases. 

Team leader Professor Serena Nik-Zainal said this is the largest study of its kind and that the vast amount of data her team worked with allowed them to detect patterns in the genetic alterations or "mutational signatures" found in the tumors. By comparing their results with other studies, they were able to confirm that 58 of the mutational signatures they found were previously unknown. Some of them are pretty common, while some are rare.

"The reason it is important to identify mutational signatures is because they are like fingerprints at a crime scene — they help to pinpoint cancer culprits," Nik-Zainal explained. Some signatures could show that past exposure to environmental causes such as smoking or UV light had triggered the cancer, while others could have treatment implications. They could, for instance, pinpoint genetic abnormalities that could be targeted by specific drugs. 

Professor Matt Brown, chief scientific officer of Genomics England said: "Mutational signatures are an example of using the full potential of [whole genome sequencing]. We hope to use the mutational clues seen in this study and apply them back into our patient population, with the ultimate aim of improving diagnosis and management of cancer patients."

In addition to conducting DNA analysis and publishing its results in Science, the team also developed an algorithm called FitMS that will give clinicians easy access to the new information they discovered. FitMS looks for both common and rare signatures in the results of a patient's whole genome sequencing test. Doctors can use the algorithm to find out if their patients exhibit any of the newly discovered mutations for a more accurate diagnosis and for personalized treatments. 

Remote robotic-assisted surgery is far from new, with various educational and research institutions developing machines doctors can control from other locations over the years. There hasn't been a lot of movement on that front when it comes to endovascular treatments for stroke patients, which is why a team of MIT engineers has been developing a telerobotic system surgeons can use over the past few years. The team, which has published its paper in Science Robotics, has now presented a robotic arm that doctors can control remotely using a modified joystick to treat stroke patients.

That arm has a magnet attached to its wrist, and surgeons can adjust its orientation to guide a magnetic wire through the patient's arteries and vessels in order to remove blood clots in their brain. Similar to in-person procedures, surgeons will have to rely on live imaging to get to the blood clot, except the machine will allow them to treat patients not physically in the room with them. 

There's a critical window of time after a stroke's onset during which endovascular treatment should be administered to save a patient's life or to preserve their brain function. Problem is, the procedure is quite complex and takes years to master. It involves guiding a thin wire through vessels and arteries without damaging any of them, after all. Neurosurgeons trained in the procedure are usually found in major hospitals, and patients in remote locations that have to be transported to these larger centers might miss that critical time window. With this machine, surgeons can be anywhere and still perform the procedure. Another upside? It minimizes the doctos' exposure to radiation from X-ray imaging.

During their tests, the MIT engineers only had to train a group of neurosurgeons for an hour to use the machine. By the end of that hour, the surgeons were able to successfully use the machine to remove the fake blood clots in a transparent model with life-size vessels replicating the complex arteries of the brain.

MIT professor and team member Xuanhe Zhao said:

"We imagine, instead of transporting a patient from a rural area to a large city, they could go to a local hospital where nurses could set up this system. A neurosurgeon at a major medical center could watch live imaging of the patient and use the robot to operate in that golden hour. That’s our future dream."

You can watch a demo of the machine below:

In 1928, Scottish microbiologist Alexander Fleming discovered what we know today as penicillin. Fleming’s work and that of his successors would go on to forever change how we treat bacterial infections. And to this day, antibiotics are one of the most powerful tools we have to protect people from a host of harmful bacteria.

But those same antibiotics can decimate the “good” microbes that live in our guts, opening the door to a host of potential health complications, including painful bouts of diarrhea that can take months to resolve. In recent years, some doctors have begun prescribing probiotics to help offset the harm antibiotics can do to gut bacteria, but the problem with that approach is that they’re just as susceptible to antibiotics and are not a replacement for those microbes.

Enter researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In a study published on Monday in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, they detail work they’ve done on a “living cellular therapeutic device” that promises to protect humans from the harmful side effects antibiotics can have on our guts.

Wyss Institute at Harvard University

Per Science Daily, they modified a strain of bacteria that is frequently used in cheese production to deliver an enzyme that can break down beta-lactam antibiotics. Many of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics in the US, including penicillin, fall under that family. Using gene editing, they further modified how their bacterium synthesizes the enzyme to prevent it from transferring that capability to other bacteria. The result is a treatment that reduces the harmful effects of antibiotics while still allowing those drugs to do their work. 

In a study involving mice, the researchers found their bacteria “significantly” reduced the damage ampicillin did to the test subject’s gut microbes and allowed those communities to recover fully after just three days. By contrast, in mice that only received the antibiotic, the researchers saw a much greater loss of microbial diversity.

It may be a while before you’re taking a course of modified bacteria alongside your next antibiotic treatment, but the team is hopeful they will have something ready soon. “We are now focusing on getting these living therapies to patients and are finalizing the design of an effective, short, and inexpensive clinical trial,” said Andrés Cubillos-Ruiz, the lead author of the study.

The White House has launched covid.gov, a dedicated website for COVID-19 guidance, including resources for treatment and testing. The site is meant to be a “one-stop shop” for all things related to COVID-19, including testing and treatment options, masks and vaccines. The website also provides county-level data from the CDC about community spread of COVID-19.

The website includes a new “test-to-treat” locator that connects people with testing sites and treatment options in their area. “This program creates one-stop-shop locations where people can get a COVID-19 test and receive an oral antiviral treatment, if appropriate for them because they test positive and face high risks from COVID,” the White House wrote in a statement. “Since the launch earlier this month, there are now over 2,000 Test-to-Treat locations nationwide, including in pharmacy-based clinics, federally-qualified community health centers (FQHCs), and long-term care facilities.”

While much of the information on covid.gov has already been available, the White House says it’s the first time that it’s brought all of its COVID-19 guidance and resources into one place. For example, it links to both vaccines.gov as well as the USPS site to order free COVID tests. It also includes links to find “high quality” masks, and resources on how to wear them.

Following a large-scale virtual health study, Google has submitted Fitbit's passive heart rate monitoring algorithm for review by the US Food and Drug Administration. Approval would allow Google to market the Fitbit as a medical device in the States.

The study, which went live in May 2020, was open to all US Fitbit users over the age of 22, and it was designed to test how accurately the device could detect atrial fibrillation, or irregular heart rhythm. The system used photoplethysmography to track the blood flow in a user's wrist and determine if there are any concerning irregularities. Google said its algorithm correctly identified undiagnosed AFib 98 percent of the time in this study, and the company presented its results to the American Heart Association at its most recent meeting.

Fitbit's Sense Smartwatch was approved by the FDA in 2020 for its ability to assess AFib using built-in electrocardiogram technology.

In addition to the Fitbit FDA news, Google is rolling out a few other healthcare-related tools. Google Search in the US will soon show available appointment slots with local doctors and clinics when looking for care, with an emphasis on the CVS MinuteClinic.

"While we’re still in the early stages of rolling this feature out, we’re working with partners, including MinuteClinic at CVS and other scheduling solution providers," Google chief health officer Dr. Karen DeSalvo said. "We hope to expand features, functionality and our network of partners so we can make it easier for people to get the care they need."

Google is also rolling out "health source information panels" and "health content shelves" on YouTube videos in Japan, Brazil and India this week, in an effort to highlight credible information from legitimate sources.