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Massage in a bottle Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Carrie Byrd of Eagle Point tries out the HydraRelax at the Rogue Valley Mall. Using pulsating jets of water, the $32,000 machines massage the body without getting a drop on the customer. For $10, spend seven minutes face-down in a tube, getting hit by water - and like it By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Resembling a space-age sarcophagus straight out of a "Star Trek" episode, a newfangled massage machine at the Rogue Valley Mall leaves customers thinking they have died and gone to heaven. The plastic capsule, which manages to squirt pulsating jets of water at your body without getting a drop on you, has customers brimming with satisfaction. "Oh, it tickles," giggled Carrie Byrd of Eagle Point. "I could do this all day long." Her friend, Kim Henderson of Eagle Point, said, "It's nice and warm. You can probably go a little harder." The machine, known as HydraRelax, can pump water out as gently as one pound per square inch or as vigorously as 10 psi. It has a plastic liner on the top side to shield customers from the water but not its effects, which can be felt through clothing. A spray arm moves slowly up and down the body, alternating the spray from 10 jets a second to a continuous blast. Customers can push a little button that stops and concentrates the spray on whichever sore muscle needs it most. Gerald Boykin of HydraRelax said hundreds of customers have used the two $32,000 machines since the store opened Dec. 14. Reactions to the oddly shaped capsule have ranged from "It looks like an iron lung" to "It's like a car wash." Occasionally, a customer might feel a little claustrophobic lying face-down as required, so the machine has a red button he can push to automatically open the unit. Boykin, who uses the machine three times a day, said most people get used to it immediately. "We've had a couple of people who wanted to strip down and get in it, but we wouldn't let them," he said. "They had a little too much holiday cheer." Sometimes customers will get in for the minimum seven-minute session that costs $10, only to plead for extra time when they're through. After Henderson's all-too-brief introduction to HydraRelax, she said, "It's a lot like a massage, but better. This is awesome." Even Deborah Maranov of Grants Pass, who is a massage therapist, found the treatment beneficial. "It just penetrates all the way," she said. "I like deep massages. I'll have to bring my daughter back - she'll love it. That is way cool. That is really relaxing." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.