Percussive Massage Gun

By now you’ve probably seen people at the gym whipping out and using on themselves what looks and sounds like a power drill. This is as inescapable a sight as people actually lifting and working out was once upon a time ago instead of doing everything other than that.¹Ahhhhhhhhhh, those were the days!!!

So what’s going on?

What these people are using on themselves is a massage gun to release muscle tension, break up knots, and increase blood flow by way of vibration and percussive therapy, all of which are accomplished when a dampener in the front of the gun jackhammers the skin.²Vibration therapy is the use of vibration on the body. Context clues, people! Percussive therapy involves beating on the body. You know, like a percussion drum. Context clues, people! Anyway, percussive therapy penetrates deeper into the muscle tissue than vibration therapy does. Massage guns provide relief through a combination of both modalities. Depending on the model, various attachment heads and settings may come included to better control the speed and depth that the gun pounds away on the target area.

The anecdotal evidence is strong that these guns work for their intended purpose. The research is also there to suggest that vibration and percussive therapy works, like that coming from a Swedish massage from a masseuse in the case of the latter. The research, however, is too limited to definitively say that commercial devices provide the same benefits as traditional methods, nor what the long-term risks are from their continued use, if there are any.

Efficacy and danger are two factors to keep in mind when thinking of buying a massage gun.³Have deep vein thrombosis? Varicose veins? Hypertension? Atherosclerosis, peripheral artery disease, arteriosclerosis, or something else that affects your blood vessels? Osteoporosis? A muscle disorder like muscular dystrophy? Lupus, scleroderma, multiple sclerosis, or some other autoimmune condition? Rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, or gout? Have anything like that and you probably shouldn’t use a massage gun without first consulting with a physician! Another is the price tag. The cost of a massage gun can be whopping, ranking it among one of the most expensive pieces of personal workout equipment. That has to be considered when you can achieve similar results with a foam roller or any other self-massaging tool for a fraction of the cost, as well as when there are many people willing to pound you out for free.⁴Is that “pounded out” as in getting beaten up in a fight? Or “pounded out” as in getting your holes beaten up in the bedroom? Being pounded out can be interpreted a number of ways, so I’ll let your imagination decide!

Glossary: gym, muscle, work out