Since 77% of Americans have stress levels that impact their health, you’re not alone in looking for anxiety relief methods. Along with sleeping tips and ideas on how you can relax your mind and body, you may have discovered another popular therapeutic technique online: massage guns.
But what do these devices do? Do massage guns work, truly? Read on to answer these questions and learn about the many benefits of these at-home solutions.
What Do Massage Guns Do?
As you likely expected, massage guns are a therapeutic device that you press against different areas of your body for a massage. They offer what’s known as percussive therapy, also known as vibration therapy. Basically, when pressed against the area that you’re trying to relax, the massage gun provides rapid bursts of pressure into your muscle tissue.
This pressure is so strong that it provides a rippling effect, so you know that its vibrations are powerful enough to be effective!
The vibrations emitted by massage guns are a replacement for the light hand/wrist strikes that professional masseuses use on clients. Like expensive massage therapy, you can use a massage gun to hyper-target a specific area of your body that contains a lot of tension and discomfort.
Do Massage Guns Work?
Massage guns are effective because they increase the blood flow to the area that they’re pointed at. If you decide to hyper-target your painful neck and shoulders after weeks of typing, there will be more blood flow to this specific area. This won’t completely stop aching, but neither will a visit to your local masseuse. Instead, it will decrease muscle inflammation and break up sore knots.
So, yes, massage guns are indeed effective. However, you do need to make sure that you get the right type of massage gun. There are a lot of hacks online that won’t give you your money’s worth or will break after only a few uses.
To learn which devices have worked for others, check out these massage guns reviews online. Make sure to find those that focus on similar muscle groupings to those that you want to primarily focus on. Different options have varying benefits, much like any other piece of technology out there.
As you may expect, the best massage guns such as the TheraGun are quite expensive. They cost up to $600, but this is well worth it when you consider how much you would be spending on massage therapy. In-person sessions can cost over $100 a week, so you already will have gotten your money’s worth in a month and a half.
However, if this doesn’t fit in your budget, that still is okay. Lower-end massage guns can be a good investment as long as you do your research and learn which have worked for others with similar needs. This is yet another reason to take a look at both expert and user reviews.
What Makes Them Worthwhile?
There are a plethora of reasons that massage guns are amazing, the first being that you can get percussive therapy while in the comfort of your home. You won’t need to drive into (and pay for) luxury spa services on a routine basis. You also won’t need to go lie down in an unfamiliar environment and let a virtual stranger dig into you, which is a huge plus for some people.
Most massage gun models also have a ton of different settings that you can choose from when using them. They can make both pushing and circular motions, but they can also move faster or slower depending on your needs. Since everything is to be done at home, you can experiment with all of these awesome settings on your own time.
Finally, you won’t need to worry about finding a therapist that takes your insurance anymore. Massage guns are inexpensive compared to any consistent masseuse visits and they eliminate the need to go through an insurance company. While this may sound like a minor benefit, it eliminates a lot of strife and allows you easy access to muscle relief.
Can They Replace a Therapist?
A study conducted in 2014 says that yes, a massage gun can replace a therapist. Assuming that you selected a high-quality, high-end massage gun, the study proved that any form of percussive therapy was equally effective for preventing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS is basically the soreness that occurs 24-72 hours after an intense workout, and massage guns can prevent this pain.
Scientific studies definitely are smiling upon these devices. However, because massage guns are still a fairly new technology that hasn’t been studied a lot yet, you may not want to throw away your massage therapist’s number quite yet. Talk to your doctor before making any major decisions such as eliminating in-person massages completely.
Try easing yourself into massage-gun exclusive therapy by halving your visits to the masseuse and then halving that again. You may want to head into the pros once in a blue moon even when you’re fully at one with your at-home percussive therapy device. If nothing else, this will be a luxury that you can enjoy.
Relax and Stay Healthy
So, do massage guns work?
They absolutely do! Even less expensive massage guns will speed up your blood flow and work your muscles until they relax. If you want to reduce tension without going to a massage therapist all the time, these guns are a great at-home solution that you won’t regret investing in.
Check out the ‘lifestyle’ tab on our home page to learn more relaxation techniques that you can do at home. You’ll find articles about sleeping better, eating healthier, and reducing stress, so start browsing and learn more!
