What Do Massage Guns Do? Latest Research Explains

But what do they do, and are they really effective? A brand new systematic review of the research on massage guns may hold some answers.

How massage guns work

“These ‘massage guns’ are a type of what’s called percussive treatment, which delivers mechanical vibration—on this case the pinnacle of the massage gun delivering repeated contacts—to muscles or tendons,” says physical therapist Andy Barr, DPT

In case you’ve ever had a massage where the masseuse uses a cupped hand technique with quick, repeated contacts (this is known as “tapotement massage”), it’s the identical principle. Chances are you’ll be surprised to learn that percussive treatment delivered through an instrument was first invented within the Nineteen Fifties!

Dr. Barr, who works with elite athletes and has been within the skilled sports health and performance space for over 25 years, has recently seen a stark increase in the usage of massage guns.

“Whether it’s for player recovery or if it’s for performance—to enhance a warm-up prior to the sport or keep players ‘warm’ while they’re resting—many teams and players use these massage guns continuously. The continued development and portability of the tool have made it even easier to make use of.”

The latter point has made the usage of massage guns viable for big swaths of the population as well: The yearly revenue on massage guns is reportedly over 550 million dollars and growing.

Must you use one? It will depend on your goals

The research on the effectiveness of massage guns up thus far had been relatively mixed, but that tends to be the case with any latest device. Nevertheless, there was a brand new high-quality systematic review released that reviewed multiple studies the impact of massage guns on pain and athletic performance.

The outcomes were quite interesting across multiple domains. The systematic review—which checked out 13 different papers—found that use of a massage gun resulted in improving multiple features of athletic performance together with recovery as well.

Specifically, a single use of a massage gun resulted in increasing muscle strength (particularly within the upper body) and increasing explosive muscle strength (think fast, powerful movements like sprinting). With multiple and consistent uses of a massage gun, the study found that muscular pain might be reduced as well, especially for decreasing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) 48 hours after difficult workouts.

Interestingly, the study further found that the usage of a massage gun had no overt change on flexibility. But nearly all of studies that found a decrease in pain also found an improvement in flexibility, so there could also be some nebulous connection there!

Based on this latest, promising evidence, how do you have to be using a massage gun to optimize your recovery and athletic performance? For recovery and reducing pain, use the massage gun consistently after exercise and/or athletic competitions, as much as 72 hours post activity. For athletic performance, use the massage gun immediately prior to the activity, whether it’s strength training or athletic activities.

Keep in mind: If flexibility is your predominant objective, a massage gun isn’t the perfect use of your time. The very best research-driven method there continues to be dynamic stretching and eccentric strength training.