Your guide to vibration massage
Vibration massage has been used by professionals for decades, but more recently personal use machines have made this therapy available... Read Article
Hand held massagers have allowed us to have massages without needing the expense and appointments of a professional therapist. However, most people don't get the benefits they should because:
To help you get the best massage possible we will discuss how to choose an appropriate massager then use it safely and effectively.
Overview
The basic types of massagers
How to use a vibration massager
How to use a massage gun
Common mistakes
Advice for specific uses, conditions and muscle groups
Professionals have been using vibrating massagers for decades. These have excellent scientifically proven benefits . In recent times vibrating massagers have become more available for personal use. However, for the following reasons most users do not get anywhere near the those professional benefits.
Vibration massagers are those that have a vibration pad that sits on the surface sending therapeutic vibrations deep into your muscles. The advantage of these are as follows.
As this diagram shows the therapeutic vibrations from a vibration massager have a host of excellent therapeutic effects. For more information please see our article The scientifically proven effects of vibration massage- with clinical applications .
Just like ultrasound (vibrations at a different frequency) the vibrations from a professional strength vibration massager are able to easily penetrate deeply into your muscles.
Vibration massagers do not drive their heads in like percussion massagers so are extremely unlikely to cause damage or injury.
We will discuss hints and precautions, but basically all you need to do is sit the head of a vibration massager over the part to be massaged and let the vibrations penetrate.
Rather than sit on the surface and send in therapeutic vibrations percussion massagers are designed to drive their heads in like a jack-hammer. The following infographic gives an overview of the differences between this and vibration massagers.
Marketers claim that percussion massage gives the benefits of vibration, but in addition have increased penetration and adds the benefits of conventional massage. However, looking at the infographic it should be obvious that these claims are deceptive and misleading. We will sumarise the main issues below, with more detail in our article Are massage guns effective- beyond the hype .
As shown in the infographic below massage guns do not deliver anywhere near the vibrations a proper vibration massager does. Further, because driving their head in does damage massage guns cannot be safely run at the effective therapeutic vibration frequencies (see Are massage guns effective- beyond the hype ).
Like ultrasound, therapeutic vibrations can easily penetrate much deeper (and safer) than the head of even the most powerful massage gun.
There is no evidence that they do this, and it is extremely unlikely that pushing the head of a massage gun is in any way comparable to the massage provided by a professional therapist.
Massage gun marketers claim that by driving their heads in percussion massagers give added benefits. However, as discussed in our article Are massage guns scientifically proven , when massage guns are tested in trials they modify them so they do not drive their heads in. To get half decent results and not hurt the patients they remove the "percussion" to make their massage guns more like vibration massagers. Of course those details are hidden in the fine print.
This picture is taken from a "percussion" massager trial. The researchers chose to use head one which as you can see is designed to give and not drive into the muscles.
A few years ago a team of UK university researchers found that massagers built for the public were ineffective because manufacturers were more concerned with how their machines looked on shop shelves than how they worked (1). If anything it is now much worse with huge numbers of factories with no interest in making serious therapeutic devices making massagers and massage guns to cash in.
A while back we were sent the machine pictured. It is actually a well known and popular brand, however it was practically useless. Like most similar machines it came with a host of gimmick shaped cheap plastic heads, so I glued on a decent one. When I tested it the power was low and the head did not go up and down enough to efficiently transfer the vibration. Where the vibrations from a proper vibration massager feel like they are going right through you this machine felt like it was just buzzing the surface.
You are far better off getting a genuine vibration massager rather than a massage gun or one of the flood of ineffective machines that are built by factories with no interest in building serious therapeutic machines. For guidance please see our article How to choose a massager . In saying that, most professional standard vibration massagers are built for professionals such as myself to use on patients, not for personal use. When we were looking for something for our patients we built our own. For more information please see this video .
In this section
How to use a vibration massager
How to use a massage gun or percussion massager
For this section we will use our General Purpose Massager , but the same principles apply for any quality hand held vibration massager.
Serious hand held massagers are built to provide genuine therapeutic benefits to help with musculoskeletal problems, and these can be complex. Because of this if you have a problem to be safe and get the best possible results we ask that you discuss usage with a professional familiar with your own needs. He or she can help work out what you need and the best way to manage your problem.
The basic usage of a vibration massager is simple. You sit the massager on the part to be massaged and let the vibrations soak in. Remember that it is the vibrations that do the work so there is no need to press in or move the massager around. Once a part has had sufficient massage move the machine to the next spot that needs massaging and repeat.
Whereas manual (eg. by hand) massage therapists sometimes use painful pressure to get to a deep spot, vibration massagers use vibration to penetrate. There is no need to press in or cause pain. In fact pain can cause muscles to tense which can work against massage. If you experience pain or discomfort we recommend you either slow the massager to a comfortable level or stop.
To get the maximum penetration the head of the massager needs to make the best contact, so it should should sit flat on the part to be massaged. At moderate speeds the weight of the machine should be enough to maintain contact. However, as speed increases the massager head will have a tendency to patter (bounce up and down). When this happens either slow the machine down or apply a moderate amount of pressure until the head stops pattering.
Also, the vibrations of the massager are maximum coming straight out of the machine, so these must be directed to get the best effect.
As discussed in our article The best setting for your massager , the frequency of the vibrations is most important. This is the rate of vibrations, and is measured in Hz (cycles per second). For the main benefits such as relaxing muscles, increasing circulation and speeding recovery the therapeutic range is 30-60 Hz, with around 50 being the best. Many machines express speed as rpm, so this is 1800-3600 rpm, with optimal being around 3000 rpm.
50 Hz is approximately 85-90% of full speed on one of our General Purpose Massagers .
Massage guns come with hard plastic heads and the powerful ones drive them in up to 16mm. Driving something into your muscles 16mm 50 times a second could cause carnage, so Theraguns have a maximum of 40 Hz, but even that is way too fast. A survey of professionals found that most used their massage guns on “slow” or “medium” (2). This is way outside the therapeutic range.
The duration of application should always be guided by your professional. However a typical starting point is 30 seconds at a moderate speed for a typical trigger point (60 for chronic deep trigger points). There may be multiple trigger points in an area, each needing an application of massage.
Like most hand held massagers our General Purpose Massager is a sealed unit. This keeps out dust and moisture but holds in heat which can damage or shorten the life of parts. Always allow to cool after 15 minutes of use.
To prevent irritation, minimise the risk of transmitting infection, and help keep the head of the massager clean please use over cloth or a layer of clothing. You will not need to rub with the massager so there is no need for oil or other lubricants.
Our General Purpose Massagers only weigh about 1.3kg, but holding this weight for a prolonged time can cause fatigue. We recommend that you position the part to be massaged horizontal. That way the weight of the massager is supported by the part being massaged and the massager only needs guiding to maintain position. The weight of the massager then is often enough to apply downwards pressure on the head.
This often comes down to personal preference. However, our massagers work by sending vibrations into the tissues, which the larger flat head does very well. The multi projection head is not for "digging in", but helps resist pattering at higher speeds. The smaller head is useful for accessing some harder to get to areas.
Many “experts” advise to use smaller heads such as the common hard plastic “bullet” heads to give better penetration. As discussed above it is the vibrations that penetrate and have the therapeutic effects. Using these smaller heads reduces the amount of vibration delivered, while increasing the risk of causing damage.
Because it is only the vibrations that penetrate vibration is generally very safe as long as you stick to massaging healthy muscles. However, please note the following precautions.
As discussed above it is the vibrations that have the therapeutic effects. By driving their heads in rather than sit on the surface and send in therapeutic vibrations massage guns (percussion massagers):
While massage gun marketers tell you that this is a good idea, the scientists who conduct clinical trials on massage guns clearly do not think so. They modify the massage guns so they do not drive their heads in and act more like a vibration massager. Your best option is to buy a genuine vibration massager in the first place, but if you have a massage gun you can do like the scientists have done. The two things you need to do are:
In the clinical trials the scientists used two main techniques to stop the heads of their massage guns driving in and to increase the amount of vibration massage.
Throw away all the hard plastic heads that look like they would be at home in a jackhammer. It is better to use larger softer heads that have a bit of “give” in them. For example, this picture taken from one of the trials. The scientists chose head number one rather than one of the hard plastic ones.
The pads of genuine vibration massagers go up and down about 4-5mm. This is ideal for vibration transfer. Powerful massage guns drive their heads in up to 16mm which is way too far. However, you can hold the machine at an angle to reduce this.
As this diagram shows, when lumberjacks started using chainsaws they need to use completely different techniques. Likewise, mechanical vibration massage works differently to conventional massage so it also need different techniques. Despite this when using mechanical vibration most people, including professionals, still use conventional massage techniques.
Just like swinging a chainsaw like an axe, when using a vibration massager like conventional massager the results are far from ideal. Doing so reduces the effect and increases the risk of injury.
When using mechanical vibration you need to allow the vibrations to “soak in” to have their therapeutic effects. Moving the machine around does not allow this. This video shows “YouTube Gurus” demonstrating massage that would be practically useless.
Conventional massage techniques press into your muscles. When doing this with a massage gun you are effectively using a jackhammer.
One of the major benefits of having your own hand held massager is that it allows you to have practically unlimited quality massage therapy. This opens up a host of opportunities. Please see the following for some examples.
The simple effective way to treat trigger points yourself
Self massage and trigger point therapy for tennis elbow
Massage and trigger point therapy for shoulder pain
The sports and exercise guide to vibration massage
The practical, science based guide to post exercise recovery
article on the effects of (myofascial) trigger points on sports and athletics performance
Functional rehabilitation
Does vibration help healing
Massage for health and wellness
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.
We are continually adding more information on research and uses. Subscribe below to have us email them to you "hot off the press".
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