Infinity IT-8500 Massage Chair Review

by Mary Lou | Last Updated: May 5, 2016 When you buy something using the links on our posts, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Learn more.

The Infinity IT-8500 massage chair is a premium zero gravity chair with an intriguing array of features that make it heaven-sent for folks with chronic back pain and tendonitis. Is it a good match for you? Read our Infinity 8500 Massage Chair review to find out.

Executive Summary

The Infinity IT-8500 massage chair may look a little daunting due to its price tag. It’s unquestionably one of the pricier models on the market. However, it pays you back with top-notch massage and features.

Feedback from chronic pain sufferers says that regular use of the IT-8500 was  superbly effective in relieving back pain. People particularly love the Stretch feature for decompressing the spine and the Seat Sway feature for relieving lower back pain. The 45-minute massage programs are also a nice bonus.

The biggest drawback is an overly intensive foot massage and the lack of a way to adjust that intensity electronically.

All things considered, if you’re looking for a therapeutic massage chair for your body aches, the IT-8500 is a big winner.

Infinity Massage Chair, Chocolate
  • Decompression Stretch: During this full-body stretch, the massage chair's airbags grip your shoulders and legs as it reclines accordingly to...
  • USB Sound System: Simply load a flash drive with your favorite music, guided meditations and plug it into the port on chair base to enhance...
  • Lumbar Heat: Heating modules located in the back of the chair provide a soothing sensation and loosen your muscles to better prepare your...

Last update on 2025-02-08 at 20:34 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / More info

Product Details

Infinite Therapeutics is a division of Infinite Creative Enterprises (I.C.E.), a privately held company with a 20-year commitment to excellence.

In 2009, they launched their line of Infinity™ Therapeutic Massage Chairs and spa-quality personal massage products. Infinite Therapeutics backs the product set with complete end-to-end solutions from pre-sales support to post-sales technical assistance.

Their promise to customers is increased well-being from using their products and superior customer service support.

Specifications

• Net Weight: 229 lbs
• Power Voltage: AC110V – 120V 50Hz/60Hz
• Power Consumption: 190W
• Chair Dimensions:
• Upright: 59 x 35.4 x 45.7 inches
• Reclined: 74 x 35.4 x 36.2 inches
• Max Weight Capacity: Approx. 265 lbs

Warranty

You get a 1-year parts/ labor in-home warranty and a 3-year limited warranty.

Main Features

For the price, you get a chockful of excellent features.

Zero Gravity: Choose from 2 zero gravity positions for a more intensive massage experience. The weightless position relieves stress on your spine by distributing your weight evenly. It is particularly effective for alleviating lower back pain.
Inversion Therapy: When fully reclining the chair backwards while in a zero gravity position, you receive an inversion effect that decompresses your spine.

The Infinity IT-8500 inversion therapy

The chair allows you to decompress your spine by reclining and letting gravity release the pressure built up in your vertebrae. The chair holds you in place while it lifts your legs and lowers your torso.

Foot and Calf Airbags: The airbag pressure on your legs and feet aids blood and lymph circulation from your lower limbs to your heart.
Mechanical Foot Rollers: In addition to airbags, the IT-8500 has 3 mechanical rollers that massage the soles of each of your feet.
Spinal Correction: Shoulder airbags pin back your shoulders while massage rollers travel vertically along your spine. This feature encourages better posture after use.

The Infinity IT-8500 spinal correction
Body Scan: The pinpoint body scan software gauges the curvature of your spine and then adjusts the chair’s roller locations to align with you personally.
Seat Airbag Massage and Sway: Seat airbags rotate the seat horizontally and vertically to introduce motion to a part of the body that usually requires a therapist to reach. This feature is especially aimed at individuals with lower back pain.
Air Neck Massage: Neck airbags gently revolve and massage your neck. Great to use before bedtime, because this massage is so soothing that it puts you to sleep.
Accu-Roll Shoulder Massage: Shoulder airbags completely surround your shoulder joints and give them a full workout.
Tru-Grip V Stretch: Your body is loosened up with an invigorating stretch by means of airbags pinning your lower body, shoulders, and arms, while the chair back and footrest rises and falls.
Lumbar Heat: Warming up the lower back is more difficult than the other body parts due to the thicker tissues in that region. The 8500’s Lumbar Heat function promotes quicker blood circulation and warming for this area.

The Infinity IT-8500 lumbar heat
Accu-Roll Neck & Shoulder Massage: The IT-8500 uses 5 sensors to scan and create the most precise massage for your neck and shoulders.
• MP3 Music System: This consists of a USB port, a headset port, external speakers, and intersound technology (a speaker system facing the user).
• 45′ Program Timer: Time your massage from 10 – 45 minutes long.
• 30.25″ Roller Track
• 38 Total Airbags

Here’s a video of the features of the Infinity IT-8500 massage chair.

Infinity IT-8500 Massage Chair Introduction
Below is a video of Dr. Alan Weidner who gives a clear, vivid explanation of why the Infinity is an outstanding chair. (This guy knows his onions.)

Stretch Program - Infinity IT-8500 Massage Chair
You can find the Quick Start Guide HERE.

Pros

Excellent Massages that Bring Pain Relief

The Infinity IT-8500 massage chair proves its value when you try out its massages. Customers with tendinitis or chronic pain in their backs, necks, hands, and feet have stated that regular massages from the IT-8500 relieve their pain completely.

infinity it-8500 massage chair pain reliefYou’ll be able to choose from the following massage techniques: Tapping, Kneading, Knocking, Shiatsu, Combination, and Synchronic (wherein the rollers will massage you to the beat of your own plugged-in music).

infinity it-8500 massage chair massage techniques

Note that the chair gives you an intense workout when you first sit in it. In fact, you’ll probably walk away sore from the pummeling your muscles received.

Our tip is to give it a couple days before using your IT-8500 again to give your body time to adapt.

Seat Airbag Massage and Sway Feature

This feature is a crowd favorite, and it’s not hard to see why. The Infinity IT-8500 massage chair gently aligns your back with its seat-swiveling motion and works to remove lower back pain.

Customers have reported a distinct improvement or alleviation of chronic back pain after some regular use of the Sway feature.

Tru-Grip V Stretch Feature

The second feature most often mentioned by satisfied customers is the Stretching function. It has just the right blend of intensity and length.

The IT-8500’s stretch feels more effective in loosening up the back than the weaker stretch of its well-known luxury counterpart, the Inada Dreamweave.

Massage Programs Extend To 45 Minutes

The average auto massage program length for massage chairs on the market is around 15 minutes with some boasting 30 minutes as a feature. The IT-8500 lets you run its massage programs for up to 45 minutes. Infinity believes this to be the longest of any massage chair timers currently on the market.

infinity it-8500 massage chair remote control

Cons

Foot Massage Too Strong

The Infinity gives great massages for all areas—except for the feet. When the airbags move and push your feet against the rollers, it becomes uncomfortably intense to the point of pain.

infinity it-8500 massage chair calf and foot massage

You can fix this by folding up some fabric or padding and sticking it between your feet and the rollers as a buffer.

No Electronic Intensity Control

Strangely, with all the massage settings it lets you tweak, the chair doesn’t let you change the massage intensity.

Fortunately, the rollers tend to err on the side of being firm rather than weak so it’s easy to manually dampen the intensity. You can simply tuck a cushion or folded cloth between yourself and the massage rollers.

infinity it-8500 massage chair rollers

Difficult Installation and Transportation

The product arrives in 5 separate boxes and takes anywhere from 1-4 hours to install with 2 people. Setting it up is not difficult, just tedious.

Here’s what the fully set up Infinity IT-8500 will look like in your home:

infinity it-8500 massage chair actual chair

If you’re not very handy with tools, you may want to just pay extra for white glove delivery and save yourself the trouble.

The chair comes shipped with an Allen wrench and a long Philips head screwdriver. But you’ll also need a short Philips head screwdriver of your own for the chair’s locking arm inserts at the rear. You’ll also want to recruit an extra pair of hands if only to hold the parts together while you attach the screws.

Make sure to assemble it in the room you want it in. The IT-8500 is a pain to move around even when it’s complete.

It comes with built-in wheels at the back and theoretically you can lift the front of the chair to wheel it along. In real life, however, it’s so heavy that moving it on your own will wreck your back as much as the wonderful massage function will make it better. For two people, though, wheeling it around is a doddle.

Conclusion

The Infinity IT-8500 massage chair comes with a hefty price tag. In addition, you’ll likely need to use a cushion to manually dampen the overly eager foot roller massage.

If you can get past these drawbacks, you’ll find that the IT-8500 lives up to its promise in the efficacy (and length) of its massages. Thousands of Americans attribute their pain relief to regular use of the IT-8500’s massage programs, so it is certainly the right investment for you if you suffer from chronic back pain.

Infinity Massage Chair, Chocolate
  • Decompression Stretch: During this full-body stretch, the massage chair's airbags grip your shoulders and legs as it reclines accordingly to...
  • USB Sound System: Simply load a flash drive with your favorite music, guided meditations and plug it into the port on chair base to enhance...
  • Lumbar Heat: Heating modules located in the back of the chair provide a soothing sensation and loosen your muscles to better prepare your...

Last update on 2025-02-08 at 20:34 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API / More info


Author: Mary Lou
In the Before Times, Maru spent vacations traveling and making stops at showrooms to test the latest massage chair models. Nowadays, she’s hunkered down in her small sunlit home dotted with her ever-growing collection of fiddle fig trees, indoor plants, and Himalayan salt lamps. Find her at LinkedIn.