Massage Guns – Friend or Fad?

The meteoric rise of the “massage gun” has been immense over the past 18 months. But where have they come from? 

 

Well, at the beginning of the pandemic, there was an abrupt transition into working from home. Along with this came an increase in back and shoulder pain since nearly everyone lacked appropriate chairs and desks. The lack of ergonomic equipment is still an issue many people are not facing, but that’s for another blog. 

 

Massage gun sellers didn’t miss this rise in back pain - they took their chance to run massive campaigns and advertising throughout the pandemic. You may have seen something similar on your Facebook newsfeed. 

 

But let’s answer the real question. 

Well, take it from me, they are amazing! 

 

As a Sports Therapist who loves to use massage to help relax muscle and ease pain, I was quite frankly worried about my clients buying them and ditching me when I first heard of them. But then I thought, “Well, they can’t be that good, surely?”. My initial questioning was that they surely couldn’t affect tissue as much as I can? So I did some scientific digging and found that the answer is no. 

Using a massage gun works on one single style of ‘technique’, which we call ‘tapotement’. This is a rapid repeated action to stimulate the muscle. This works brilliantly as the massage gun stimulates tightened tissue, focusing on the connective sheath we are covered in the fascia (like icing on a cake) and getting to the more superficial muscles. They are a much more improved, targeted, and practical foam roller. Easy to handle. Effortless. Effective. 

 

They will not, however, change deeper muscle tissue nor realign too much of your tissue. That is reserved for professional sports massage therapists who apply much deeper pressure to create such change. This point nicely takes up on to the reason for a massage gun. 

 

A massage gun should be used for maintenance, never to “fix” a long term or ongoing problem. They are the new foam roller. They are much more adaptable and more consistent in pressure. In an everyday type of application, they should be applied in the same way to help lightly relieve from a day at the office or a hard training session.  

 

Either way, they are a fantastic tool to use as maintenance for your muscles and body in between your regular sports massage sessions. 

 

If you want to know more about massage guns and which one is best for your buck, we have them in stock in the clinic and will be more than happy to take you through how to use them. 

 

Head here to give us a shout! 

This article was written by Harry Sherlock at our Leamington Spa Massage Therapy Clinic.