How to choose the best settings for your vibrating massager (or massage gun)

Vibration massager and massage gun — In this article we will show you how to choose the best speed for your vibrating massager

Most people think choosing the setting of a massager is a simple matter of choosing the intensity you like. However, the effect of vibration depends on its frequency or “speed”. Therefore it is most important to choose the frequency that gives the therapeutic effects you need. Some things that will certainly affect your massage are:

Different frequencies may have opposite effects

As an example, one frequency causes muscles to relax while another causes them to tighten.

Some frequencies have little therapeutic benefits

The lower speeds in massagers and massage guns especially may feel comfortable, but have little therapeutic effects.

It is the vibratations that have the therapeutic effects

Although massage gun marketers ( wrongly) claim that their machines add the benefits of conventional massage the overwhelming benefits from a vibrating massager come from the vibrations. We discuss these in detail in our article The scientifically proven effects of vibration massage- with clinical applications .

There are two things that determine the benefits you will receive from vibrations:

the frequency of the vibrations, and
the amount of vibrations.

The frequency of the vibrations

The frequency determines what the vibrations will do, and they’re measured in Hz which is cycles per second (a lot of machines give their specs as rpm which is per minute). As an example of the therapeutic benefits, 50 Hz will give you a big increase in blood flow which will last for a fair while, while 30 Hz will give you a smaller increase which only lasts a short time, so 50 Hz is much better for circulation (1)⁠. If we look at going faster, 50 Hz will relax a muscle, but 100 Hz will cause it to tighten (2)⁠.

The best therapeutic frequency range

In general you’ll get the best benefits using your massager at about 50 Hz, while anything from 40-60 will be pretty good. Most machines give their speed as per minute so that is about 2,400-3,600 rpm, with the ideal about 3,000 rpm.

The amount of vibrations

The other thing that determines the benefit is of course the amount of vibration. Within reason it is the more vibrations the better, which is why professional machines feel “stronger” than most “consumer” machines.

Specific advice for different types of machines

Lets look at applying this to various types of massagers.

Professional grade vibration massagers
“Consumer” grade massagers and massage guns
Powerful massage guns

Professional grade vibration massagers

Professional grade vibration massagers are designed to give copious amounts of therapeutic vibrations over the therapeutic frequency ranges.

Using a professional grade vibration massager

Step one: work out the the optimum setting

Work out the setting that gives close to the ideal 50 Hz (3000 rpm). To do that you look at the specifications for the maximum speed, then work out what percentage you need.

eg. if your machine has a maximum speed of 4000 rpm, 3000 rpm will be about 75% of full power.

Example: Our General Purpose Massager

Our General Purpose Massager is a professional strength unit, but has an ergonomically designed handle and simple controls to allow self use by patients. It’s speed range is approximately 20-60 Hz, which means the ideal speed range is approximately 80-90% of full power.

For more info: General Purpose Massager

Step two: use as close to this speed as possible

The best benefits will be at about this speed. However, the vibrations from professional machines can be intense and strong so we give the following advice to help use an optimum speed.

Multi projection head — Special head that allows you to use faster speeds

Special head that allow increased speed

The General Purpose Massager comes with a special head that allows for higher vibration speeds. It is large and flat to spread the vibrations over a larger area, but has multiple projections that reduce the contact area. This reduces vibration transfer, but:

makes it easier to tolerate higher speeds, and
reduces the tendency of the head to patter (bounce in and off rather than transfer vibration).

Therefore, you can use these at a higher speed than you could a flat head. For example if you can only tolerate 2000 rpm with the flat head you may be able to tolerate 3000 rpm with the multi-projections head. You will get less vibrations, but they will be at the more beneficial frequency.

Large area massager — Example of a large area massager

Large area vibration massagers

Some professional machines are designed to do larger areas. As shown in this pic they tend to have large plates that either go up and down, or rock side to side. Newton’s law of physics states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, so these machines can vibrate considerably, making them uncomfortable to hold and would bounce around is used at higher speeds.

Because of this some manufacturers actually limit these machines to less than 2000 rpm, which means that their vibrations are well outside the optimum therapeutic range. In the next section we show how we have overcome this.

The DrGraeme Ultimate Quad Head Massager

Our large area massager
Our Ultimate Quad Head massager overcomes this by having four separate heads working so there is always two going up while two go down. This cancels out a lot of the vibrations within the machine making it quite comfortable to hold. With our first production we actually ran them to a maximum of 3400 rpm, but subsequently reduced that to the ideal 3000 rpm so it was easier on the more complex mechanism.

For more info: Ultimate Quad Head Massager

“Consumer” massagers and massage guns

Most “consumer” massagers and massage guns have a top speed of about 3000 rpm, but do not deliver the quantity of vibrations a professional machine does. This is because:

they have low powered motors,
the heads do not go up and down the 4-5mm needed for efficient vibration transfer, and
the usually have cheap plastic gimmick shaped heads rather than ones that optimise vibration transfer.

Example consumer grade massager

As an example our factory sent us a sample of a very well known brand of massager. Like most, this came with a collection of cheap plastic gimmick heads so we glued on a flat head from a General Purpose Massager to test it. By comparison with the professional machine the vibrations felt very weak. It felt like you needed to push in a bit to help it.

Examining this machine we found that it had a low power motor, and the head only went up and down a very small amount which meant it “buzzed” the surface but did not transmit significant amounts of vibration.

Using a "consumer" grade massager or massage gun

These machinnes will never give you the therapeutic benefits of a proper professional grade vibration massager, but you can maximise their affects if you follow this advice.

Use a larger, flatter head

A larger flatter head will increase vibration transfer which is what you need to get the therapeutic effects. On the other hand, as discussed in our article How to use your massager or massage gun , the heads designed to drive into your muscles add little, if any, benefit and increase risk of hurting you. We recommend that you do not use any head that would look at home on an jack-hammer.

Use maximum or near maximum speed

The maximum speed of these types of machine is usually around 3000 rpm which is the best therapeutic speed, and because of their low vibration output they are usually easily tolerated. To get the maximum therapeutic benefits you would usually use these machines at maximum power, or very close to it.

Powerful massage guns

As shown in the infographic below, while vibration massagers are designed to sit on the surface and send in vibrations massage guns (percussion massagers) are designed to drive their heads in like jackhammers. Although they both vibrate their effects are completely different,

Powerful massage gun being used — Powerful massage guns drive their head in up to 16mm, which can cause much harm

It is dangerous using a poweful massage gun at the ideal therapeutic vibration speed

“Professional” massage guns are able to drive their heads into your muscles up to 16mm. This is a big problem because you can do tremendous damage driving something 16 mm into your muscles 50 times a second (the ideal frequency for therapeutic vibrations).

An example of the danger

A report in a scientific journal discusses a case where someone nearly died from internal bleeding following using a massage gun to help recover after a bike ride (3)⁠.

The experiences of colleagues.

A colleague told me that she had brought a Theragun, which is a powerful machine capable of driving it’s head in 16mm. She could only use it on low speed because going faster would hurt her patients. This is typical for professionals using massage guns. A survey found that most used their machines on either "slow" or "medium" (5). The problem with this it this would be about 15-20 hz, which is way outside the ideal therapeutic range of 40-60 hz. The ironic thing is you would probably get more benefits from a cheap consumer massager that you were able to run in the useful therapeutic range.

Using a powerful massage gun

The best way to benefit from a powerful massage gun is to sell it and buy something appropriate. Your alternative is to do what scientists do when they have been asked to do clinical trials on massage guns. They reaise that it is not a very good idea to drive a head into a muscle like a jackhammer. Therefore, as shown in this excerpt from a trial report they attach special damper heads that stop their head driving in and spreads the contact for better vibration transfer (4)⁠.

Excerpt from journal — In trials scientists use special damper attachments to stop massage gun heads driving into muscles

Understanding the difference between vibration massagers and massage guns

Professionals

DrGraeme massagers were originally built by Dr Graeme for use in his clinic, and to prescribe to his patients for additional self use at home. Now these are used by colleagues and other professionals for similar purposes. If you are a professional and wish to know more about this therapy, or possibly get a sample massager to trial please check out our practitioner page.

References

Maloney-Hinds C, Petrofsky JS, Zimmerman G. The effect of 30 Hz vs. 50 Hz passive vibration and duration of vibration on skin blood flow in the arm. Med Sci Monit 2008;14(3):CR112-6.
Poenaru D, Cinteza D, Petrusca I, Cioc L, Dumitrascu D. Local Application of Vibration in Motor Rehabilitation - Scientific and Practical Considerations. Maedica (Buchar) 2016;11(3):227–31.
Chen J, Zhang F, Chen H, Pan H. Rhabdomyolysis After the Use of Percussion Massage Gun : A Case Report. 2021;1–5.
Garc M, Jurado-castro JM, Ben J. Acute Effects of a Percussive Massage Treatment on Movement Velocity during Resistance Training 2021;
Cheatham SW, Baker RT, Behm DG, Stull K, Kolber MJ. Mechanical percussion devices: A survey of practice patterns among healthcare professionals. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2021;16(3):766–77.