Over the past couple of years self use massage guns have flooded the market with hundreds of different brands on certain online retail stores ranging from around £20 to over £500, but are they any good?

Let me first point out, I am a trained massage therapist with anatomy and physiology training, so hopefully I know where the muscles and bones are and how they function. I am also a runner who trains 5 or 6 times a week so I am a relatively fit and healthy person. 

The reason for this blog is two fold – could I use a massage gun in my practice to save my thumbs and also could I use it for self massage as an add on to my exercise regime?

After initial research I could find very little to support the use of a massage gun, very little scientific back up other than the information provided by the manufacturers of the products who inform us they can do a whole range of treatments – therefore I initially discounted them as a fad and had no interest in purchasing one for myself. However, I was struggling to think of a birthday present from my brother so I suggested he buy me a massage gun with the intention of trying it out.

What do the manufacturers say their products can do?

Below is a direct from the manufacturers blurb about the gun I have (I have removed reference to their brand):-

• A Massage Gun is a device that helps stretch recovery through percussion equipment, this muscle deep tissue massage gun relaxes fascia and tense muscles, recovers soft tissues, accelerates blood circulation and rapidly reduces lactic acid produced after exercise. It is suitable for athletes, fitness enthusiasts, office workers and the elderly.

• When you’re done with your workout, your body’s in a heightened state. But a massage gun can, in theory, help you relax your nervous system, rejuvenate sore tissue and aching muscles. The sooner you fire up your parasympathetic nervous system, which helps govern rest and relaxation, the sooner your body shifts into recovery mode.

• The handheld Muscle Massager is designed to send waves of relaxation and relief throughout your body,help you keep a better physical statuses and a healthier lifestyle !

• …can improve the overall health of the body’s soft tissues, prevent inflammation which caused by adhesion between the fascia and muscles.It’s well built high quality motor, delivering high penetration, rejuvenating sore tissue and aching muscles.

This muscle massage percussion device scientifically subdivide 30 speeds to help users get proper and appropriate pressure to relieve muscle pain.Different level of speed can meet your all kinds of needs:

• LEVEL 1-4:Relaxing your body

• LEVEL 5-8:Warming Up before doing exercise

• LEVEL 9-12:Rehabilitation Training

• LEVEL 13-20:Relaxation of the fascia

• LEVEL 21-25:Deep tissue muscle massage

• LEVEL 26-30:Professional whole body massage

You can choose the most suitable head to massage all part of muscle. Below just some reference for every massage heads：

• Round Head：Deep tissue for large body part(back and leg).

• Taper Head：Deep massage for smaller muscles, such as arms and wrists.

• Flat Head：Snug body fit, massage for chest, shoulder and calf areas.

• ‘U’ Shape Head：Massage for neck,but avoid the bones.

• Thumb Head： Massage for arm,thigh,calf and sole areas.

• Spade Shape Head： Deep massage for arm,sole,and smaller muscles.

• Crescent Head：Used for shoulders and legs.
• Convex Head：Used for quads,gluteal.

 

• Don’t use this massage gun impact joints, please just use for the muscle part. (If you wand to massage neck, please try low level 1-3, if you feel uncomfortable，please stop neck massage)

• Don’t use this muscle massager gun stay in the same location for too long

• Please refer to the instruction manual and schematic diagram for proper use

• Please turn off the masage gun power at the bottom in time after use

• Regarding the choice of massage head and massage speed, it is recommended that you choose the massage head that best suits your body and the speed that best suits you
• It is recommended for middle-aged and elderly people to use low-grade and round headsif you feel uncomfortable，please stop massage

WHO ARE MASSAGE GUN SUITABLE FOR?

This easy-to-use self-massage tool is ideal for professionals amateurs, athletes, trainers, therapists, warming-up, or daily health care.

It is also suitable for different scenarios, such as the gym, office, home or physiotherapy room.

Wherever and whenever you need it, the massage gun will give you a professional massage experience!

 

Now anyone reading that has to be suitably impressed, this gun sounds like it does all I want and more…….

Would be my initial impression !

 

What do I think?

Firstly, I am not going to agree or disagree with their claims, I do not know what research they have carried out or who they are as a company, but I will be honest my impression is they are a manufacturer who have, like many many others have put a marketing blurb that is very similar to everyone else to sell a product (switching from technical terms to misspelled body parts).

The product I bought was approx £40 reduced from £90 but the blurb was very similar from the £20 models up to the £500 – granted the £500 guns looked very impressive, were probably made of higher quality materials and their marketing videos would have cost a fortune to produce but all in all they all claim to be scientifically proven to be the best product.

As you can probably tell at this stage I am still unconvinced but is that because I am worried that if everyone had a massage gun they will no longer need my services?

The first time I used it!

When I opened the case my initial thoughts were it looked bulkier than I was expecting but with the size of the motor and power output I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, it was also a lot heavier than expected.

Knowing what I know about anatomy I selected the appropriate ‘head’ and put it on the lowest setting to try it out, initially just massaging one of the bulkier muscles to try and warm up the area. I am not sure what I was expecting but at the lowest setting the muscle being treated vibrated, the gun vibrated and most of the way up my arm – turning the setting up did reduce the feedback but with the weight and the vibration I am not sure I will be able to use it for more than a few minutes at a time (or if I did I would then need my wrist, arm and shoulder massaging to account for the overuse of those muscles).

After the first use, which was probably no more than 5 or 6 minutes (battery life is 10 minutes according to the instructions which seemed accurate based on the display) I felt that there was little or no point having the setting low, it wobbled the wobbly bits and when I applied any pressure there was a cut off – so most of that first use the speed was higher and I had to ease back any pressure. I also found that for a few minutes after using it I felt like the world was wobbling a bit – do you know when you go on a boat trip and then when you return to land it takes a few minutes for that feeling of waves bobbing too pass – that’s how I felt (leap forward a few uses and I still get that feeling – maybe just me?!).

Ongoing use

Now I will be honest, after that first use I wasn’t impressed at all, my initial thought was to send it back and spend the £40 on something useful but that wouldn’t have made a very interesting blog, so I persisted.

I have gone through the various heads, some of which look like torture tools, tried different body parts, used it on my kids (for massage not torture – they may argue otherwise) and some of the feedback I have is:-

• Be wary around the joints, ligaments and tendons – my bones didn’t enjoy the feeling of rapid vibration (will there be claims for vibration white finger in years to come from overuse of massage guns?). I also felt that around places like my achilles tendon it’s too difficult to get angles right, lots of bony landmarks to avoid and with tendons you can’t really improve circulation a great deal anyway by just ‘percussion’.
• My kids, they are a bit skinny so using it on them appeared to just make them laugh and vibrate all over – perhaps in their quads(thighs) and in their upper trapezius (shoulders) they thought it was quite nice but again, I knew what I was doing and not many of you can do your shoulders yourself (please be very careful if you do, your spine is extremely important and I really wouldn’t recommend using the massage gun on the vertebrae).
• For a self proclaimed ‘self massage gun’ – there are not many areas you can treat easily without twisting your body into an unnatural position at the same time as massaging the muscles in the correct direction or angle.
• To do it properly on your back, back of legs, neck you need assistance.
• My gun only lasts 10 minutes on full charge, it’s a bit heavy and 10 minutes is a long time to hold a vibrating massage gun.
• This is purely a me problem – I can’t sit still……sitting with a massage gun is boring, I have better things to do, like write blogs.

Summary

I’ve had the massage gun for about 3 months, I probably haven’t used it enough or often enough to make a full evaluation of its long term and short term benefits but my initial observations are below, in no particular order:-

It’s portable and you can use it as often as you like and where you like.

You can use it in the comfort of your own home (I do mobile appointments as well so you could argue I can treat you in the comfort of your own home 😉 )

I found it heavy and cumbersome to use solo, limited to easy to reach muscles.

I believe you need some anatomy knowledge to use it effectively and safely – it worries me that people will use it on inappropriate injuries and do more damage than good.

Potentially it’s less taxing on your hands – I use my hands everyday so I am used to massaging muscles but I found it tiring after a while.

Cheap? A monthly deep tissue sports massage would cost £25, so DIY massage gun has paid for itself after 2 or 3 massages, however a £500 gun – you’d be better off having 20 massages….

In my opinion

As a general muscle loosener I can see the benefits on the more bulky muscles, your thighs, glutes (bum) as you can just do a quick 5 minutes in the evening after a busy day so it’s convenient. Maybe even in your upper back, shoulders it would help relieve those aches after sitting at a laptop but I would recommend you need a ‘friend’ to do it properly.

Yes, it can be cheaper and more convenient but as for the effectiveness I don’t think it will rival the deep tissue or sports massage done by a qualified professional (or even by your partner rubbing your shoulders after a taxing day).

Possibly, for some I can see it being a good tool in their overall fitness regime for some quick wins after a hard workout, or if time is limited then a quick blast to try and sort a problem short term.

However, one of the big advantages of ‘hands on’ treatment is the power of the human touch, it can not be replicated by a plastic massage gun. Humans hold hands, hug, shake hands, put a comforting hand on the shoulder for a reason, that action of touch does great things to relax the nervous system. A therapist can feel their way around the muscles, can feel where the restrictions are, knowledge of the muscle action, origin and insertion points, direction of the muscle fibres and follow the ‘pain’. 

Personally, I have found it of no benefit at all so far, the only issue I tend to get is sore/tight calves and I have found it aggravates them rather than helps them. I will continue to use it to see if I can find that magic use but I definitely won’t be using it on clients to save my hands.

If someone asks me if they should buy one – everyone is different, some people swear by them but personally I am glad I didn’t buy it as I have a feeling it will be in the wardrobe come Christmas consigned to the fad gadgets pile.

This is all based on my own personal experience, you may find the right massage gun and it might do you wonders and I would love to hear of your positive or negative thoughts on them as it might be I just found the wrong one for me.

Thanks for reading.

Paul