Best small tub for low back pain/sciatica

[Ruthyleon]

Hello! I've been shopping around for a tub that will help relieve my low back pain, sciatica in the hamstrings and calves, and general lower body muscle tightness.I have wet tested a HotSprings Jetsetter, Sovereign and Prodigy. I love the size of the Jetsetter, but it didn't have lower leg jets (very important). The  Jetsetter NXT has some bubble jets on the calves, but I think I may need stronger jets for the legs. I tested the lounger in the Prodigy which is similar to the lounger in the Jetsetter NXT. I will be testing the Jacuzzi J315, but after reading through the Jacuzzi brochure it seems the jets in the lounger of the J-335 or J-355 may be more suitable.

I am a petite person ( 5'1") and I did float around a bit in the Jetsetter. I'm hoping I can stay seated in the Jacuzzi.

Anyways, does anyone have experience with Jetsetter NXT, Jacuzzi j-335 or j-355? The tub will be for me only, so I can get exactly what I want in a small size. No need to compromise Thanks!

[Jacuzzi Jim]

  Bullfrog R5L or R6L  pick your jet pack for the back, and enjoy.  Leg jets and foot jets are there..

[wmccall]

Welcome to the forum from a fellow Sciatica sufferer, well at least I was before spinal fusion surgery. Hopefully that fixed that problem. I'd be more concerned with finding a tub that you don't float in with your petite size.  Sciatic pain may radiate down the leg, but it begins in the lower lumbar region and any hot clean water will help to some extent, but find a tub with good leg massage is a challenge.   I do recommend getting a tub just slightly bigger than you think you might need so you can move around a little bit and get jet action everywhere.

[Ruthyleon]

thanks for the feedback, jacuzzi Jim and wmccall. I wasn't aware of the Bullfrog Spa line. I  took a look at their web site, and that's a really nice concept to have the option to customize  jets and their arrangement.

I did a wet test of the Jacuzzi  j-315 and a Jacuzzi  LX today. The LX was just too much for me. I was surprisingly pleased with the J-315.I loved the size, the jets seemed to have the perfect pressure, it's small enough to fit through my Florida room doorway and it's a 110 (no extra wiring required). The different seats offered enough variety of jets that I can find something soothing no matter which body part hurts on any given day. I also found I didn't float around as much in the 315 as I did in the LX. The LX practically blew me to the other side of the tub!
 
I decided to put down a deposit and will have my new tub in 4 weeks, a roasted chestnut cabinet with an Opal shell. I'm so excited! I will hopefully get an Rx from my primary care physician to avoid having to pay the sales tax, but the tub won't be here for 4 weeks. I have plenty of time to rearrange my Florida room and get everything in order. Thanks so much for this site. I have learned a great deal by lurking and reading old posts. I'm sure I will have spa care questions coming soon.

[wmccall]

Congrats,

Coe back and let us know how it goes for you.

[BullFrogSpasMN]

No joke I just sold 2 Bullfrog R5L's in the last 10 days for the same exact issue(s) and also one of the guys had very deep neck tension so he picked the NeckMasseuse to use in the lounger which is where you get those well placed sciatica area jets and at the same time he can work his neck/shoulders with that specific JetPak

[Jacuzzi Jim]

thanks for the feedback, jacuzzi Jim and wmccall. I wasn't aware of the Bullfrog Spa line. I  took a look at their web site, and that's a really nice concept to have the option to customize  jets and their arrangement.

I did a wet test of the Jacuzzi  j-315 and a Jacuzzi  LX today. The LX was just too much for me. I was surprisingly pleased with the J-315.I loved the size, the jets seemed to have the perfect pressure, it's small enough to fit through my Florida room doorway and it's a 110 (no extra wiring required). The different seats offered enough variety of jets that I can find something soothing no matter which body part hurts on any given day. I also found I didn't float around as much in the 315 as I did in the LX. The LX practically blew me to the other side of the tub!
 
I decided to put down a deposit and will have my new tub in 4 weeks, a roasted chestnut cabinet with an Opal shell. I'm so excited! I will hopefully get an Rx from my primary care physician to avoid having to pay the sales tax, but the tub won't be here for 4 weeks. I have plenty of time to rearrange my Florida room and get everything in order. Thanks so much for this site. I have learned a great deal by lurking and reading old posts. I'm sure I will have spa care questions coming soon.

  You picked a nice spa, but it's lacking in leg jets.  So guessing your original wants went out the window   You still picked a nice spa.     

 What kinda price you get on it? 

[Ruthyleon]

Yes, the leg jets are pretty minimal. They are the champagne bubble jets. I think they're called BX jets in the 300 series. But I found that using all of the different seats and positioning myself in different ways I can hit all of the body parts that I have problems with. I was surprised that the lounger wasn't really my favorite seat. To wmccall's point about the low back being the origin of sciatica, I found a seat that hit my low back in such a way that the sciatica eased off tremendously. Or at least the pressure was strong enough to distract me from any other pain I was feeling. I also have a lot of tension and tightness in the hips, and there were plenty of options to hit both sides.

It's funny because one goes into this process thinking one knows exactly what one wants, but it isn't until the actually testing occurs that a more refined list of wants/needs can be outlined. Anyway, I went into this thinking leg jets and a lounger  would be the ultimate desires with all else being secondary. In fact, I found that I don't need really strong jets like those in the bigger and more expensive tubs I tried. They were overkill. It seems I need hot moving water, energy efficiency, a small size for my indoor space, something easy to get in and out of, and hopefully something easy to take care of. The Jacuzzi warranty gives me some peace of mind too. I really didn't want to exceed 8000$ total for my purchase (including electrical wiring, tax if applicable,delivery, etc), and I  feel I did OK in this arena. I got the tub for $7150. I think I may be paying a bit too much, but I was proud I managed to negotiate 500 off the asking price. I'm not a great negotiator.

Anyway, thanks again. I'm looking forward to spending my evenings in my new tub. Only 4 weeks to go.