If you frequently attend physiotherapy sessions, then you will know that massages offer immediate muscle relief benefits. This is why the use of muscle massage guns has become so popular over the years, as they provide similar but more even stimulation than the hands of a masseuse.
The efficiency of the electric massage gun will depend on the quality of the product, that's why we leave you with this series of recommendations so that you can make a smart purchase and take home a professional massage machine, with all the benefits you deserve and need
How can percussion massage therapy improve health according to scientific studies?
In addition to specific benefits and treatment of specific types of pain, you need to know what method the massage gun uses to give you real relief. In general, pain is sensed by a nerve receptor known as a nociceptor, which is located throughout your body and detects nerve stimuli that are activated when there is an injury or wound.
How does the percussion massage gun work? It blocks the message that the nociceptor must send to the brain and spinal cord to indicate that the body is in pain. After reading this explanation, you will understand that the gun does not treat the source of the injury, but it helps people feel better and can provide temporary relief and speed up the recovery process.
In the year 2020, a study by the National Institute of Health in the USA demonstrated that range of motion, or ROM, is significantly improved when just 5 minutes of taser massage is applied to muscle groups such as the calves, legs and back. To measure the result, the researchers used a dynamometer to show that movement improves when people feel less pain after the stimulations.
What are the main benefits of muscle massage guns?
In addition to reducing muscle pain, massage guns have additional benefits that are practical for people in all walks of life.
- Treating muscle tension: knots are one of many names for the involuntary contractions of muscle fibres that occur when there is an overload of tension. The gun makes the palpable lumps in the skin disappear from the first massage session.
- Increases joint mobility: although the body has about 360 joints, the neck, knees, elbows, shoulders and ankles are the joints that suffer most from physical effort and it is where the gun has the greatest effect, although this is obtained by stimulating the adjacent tissues and not directly on the cartilage.
- It protects tendons and ligaments: it is true that all tissues are connected to each other, but the gun stimulates directly on the superficial and deep muscles. However, when the musculature is healthy, there is likely to be less stress on the other tissues that allow joint mobility.
- Stimulates the production of endorphins: the hypothalamus is the source of the "happiness hormone", which serves as a natural painkiller and is a chain of proteins that generate an incredible feeling of physical and mental well-being. Massage with this product causes the body to release this hormone, the functioning of which has not been duplicated in the laboratory.
- Improves oxygenation: it is part of the muscle cooling phase that athletes require if they want to have resistant muscles, it is about stimulating blood circulation so that more oxygen reaches the muscles and connective tissues, so that the muscle recovers better from fatigue and will be ready for a new work session.
- Activate trigger points: more than a technical word, this is the pain that generates discomfort in the area of the body where they are palpable and areas of the body associated with it. To deactivate the point, it is necessary that the gun is massaged deeply and with specific heads, thus avoiding damage to the skin and muscle fibres.
- It provides a uniform massage: unlike manual massages, even if performed by an expert, percussion guns offer a massage with equal depth, so you don't have to worry that the massages will stimulate some areas more than others and that there will be irregularities in the muscular structure. Uniformity will ensure proper muscle recovery.
- Avoid mental stress: being irritable, anxious, depressed and drowsy are symptoms that there has been a process of progressive stress that affects both the psyche and the body. Headaches, stiffness and contractures are common when people do not know how to control their emotions. The percussion gun helps to reduce these physical consequences by relaxing tense tissues.
What features should a electric massage gun have that are perfect for me?
It's time to talk about what you need to consider in order to get a percussion gun that meets your needs.
Size
Wecan't pass up the opportunity to make it clear that there are two different models of massage guns: the smaller one has a simple use, ideal for people who need a support to reduce stress and anxiety.
They are a product that is used when there is a lot of pressure at work, and when practising sport as an amateur. In these cases, the tissues in the neck and back are often strained to the point of pain. In addition, they have a single, round, soft head.
In addition to the small massager, you also have at hand a professional gun model with which you can interchange different types of heads to stimulate parts of the body such as the forearms, thighs and lower back. This device is for more professional use and is in great demand by physiotherapists, sports doctors and professional sportsmen and women.
Weight
A heavier gun is no guarantee that it will be more resistant. New materials used by manufacturers are making the products lighter and lighter, so that they can be lifted with one hand easily and without the risk of a bad massage.
On average, today's guns weigh between 800 and 1360 grams (1.7-3.0 lb). Another benefit of a light gun is that you can better control the correct pressure on each part of the body with your hands.
Noise emission
Noise emission is measured in decibels, and while early models were very noisy, modern massage guns have brushless motors, which guarantee good power with decibels between 50 dB and 60 dB.
This frequency represents at least 60% less noise than massage guns made 10 years ago. More than a physical advantage, this is an improvement that promotes mental relaxation for people who turn to this product to reduce stress levels.
| Noise rating (dB) | |||
| Less than 50 dB | 50-60 dB | 60-70 dB | Greater than 70 dB |
| Very quiet | Moderately quiet | Standard and acceptable | Excessive noise |
Stroke Length
The type of amplitude is linked to the muscle groups that the gun has access to, as not all trigger points are close to the dermis. By definition, deep muscles are all those that are close to the bones, but some muscles are deeper than others.
Which ones? The muscles of the back, such as latissimus dorsi and erector spinae; the muscles of the legs, such as triceps suralis and tibialis posterior. These are muscles that are going to require a greater amplitude in the constant strokes of the percussion gun.
As an excellent trick, the stroke length can be helped by your hands, which regulate the pressure that each muscle group requires to be stimulated
| Stroke Length (mm) | ||
| 10-12 mm | 13-16 mm | 17-20 mm |
| Soft tissue massage | Deep tissue massage (Industry standard) |
Very good, but rare |
Stall force
Many people also call it "percussive force". This is the amount of force the motor can apply before the gun stops, measured in pounds. The higher the stall force, the more powerful the massage. Keeping stroke length and speed the same, here are the values for stall force in correlation to massage.
| Stall force rating (lb) | ||
| 20-30 lbs | 30-50 lbs | 50+ lbs |
| Gentle massage | Moderately Intense Massage (Industry standard) |
Very intense massage |
Design and ergonomics
For the design, there are no specific instructions to follow, always choose the design you find most attractive. After looking at all the best-selling massage guns currently on the market, we found three types of designs.
- Triangular frame
- Jig saw frame
- Standard hand-held massager.
Speed settings
The best thing to do is to choose a gun that has customisable speeds, which are measured in revolutions per minute (rpm). Modern percussion guns come with a range of revolutions from 1400 rpm to 2800 rpm.
This allows you to vary the type of massage depending on the part of the body, such as the legs, which will require harder heads and higher revolutions because there are stronger and denser muscles that even with the hands are complex to stimulate, but it is easier to do it with this product.
Heat sink
Contrary to what you may think, when it comes to heat, it's not about the gun generating heat on the skin. The idea of this heat sink is to protect the internal mechanism of the massage gun by preventing high temperatures from affecting the materials and electrical components of the product.
A quality gun will extract the heat from the inside of the product without burning your hands when holding the device and without damaging the integrity of the massager. This will ensure that the product you are purchasing will have a longer life and the massages will be more effective for your health, without the gun overheating.
Battery life
There area couple of things to clarify about this type of product: firstly, the average battery life is between 2 hours and 8 hours of continuous use, but are you really going to be massaging for that long?
For a massage to be effective, it should not last more than 15 to 20 minutes in a single session. So the durability of the gun is not meant to be used up in a single session, rather it is designed so that you can take it anywhere and use it for several sessions without needing to recharge the battery.
Approximately 50% of all massage guns have removable batteries and few of them offer additional batteries. Removable batteries are useful from a portability point of view, but at the same time, charging them takes much longer. On the other hand, non-removable batteries, for the most part, charge very quickly.
Now the question is which one to choose, either removable or non-removable. So, the answer is: For the same features, always go with a removable battery. But if you get better prices and features, there is nothing wrong with choosing a non-removable battery.
Included accessories
The gun models we offer come with a case in which you can store the product and take it wherever you need to go. This case works to keep order and care of the different heads that are included and that will serve to massage different muscle groups.
In addition to this case, the professional gun comes with several interchangeable heads of different shapes and sizes, such as a round head, a flat head, a bullet-shaped head and a U-shaped head, with which you can massage the dorsal muscles without touching the vertebrae.
Price
After reading all the features that a professional and quality massage gun should have, how much are you willing to pay for such a product?
Remember that investing in a low quality massage gun will only mean that the massages will not be as effective and that the product will last less than a couple of years, in which case you will be forced to change the gun and in the long run you will pay more money than you had thought.
Warranty
It goes without saying that our products come with a 2-year guarantee, which covers any imperfections in the massager. Although it is always important that you know the type of use you should give to the gun and the care you should take, you can find this information clearly in the instruction manual and recommendations.
Below is a table with the minimum requirements you should take into account before buying the best massage gun on the market:
| Minimum required features | |
| Weight | Less than 3 lbs (1360 gr) |
| Battery life | At least 2 hours |
| Noise | 50-60 dB (at most) |
| Accessories | Greater than 4 |
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