The benefits of percussion massage (massage guns) vs vibration massage

The terms percussion and vibration massage are often used interchangeably, but they are different and have different effects. As discussed below vibration massage uses vibration to penetrate and have it's therapeutic effects, while percussion massagers penetrate by physically driving their heads into your muscles.

The claims vs reality

Vibration massagers are relatively safe and have a host of scientifically proven benefits, while proponents of percussion massagers claim a host of advantages from physically driving their heads in. The reality is the science is behind vibration massage. Proponents of percussion claim these benefits even though even though their machines are are not primarily designed to deliver vibrations. We know of no scientific evidence that percussion adds any benefits, while driving the heads into your muscles creates a serious risk of causing injury.

In this article we will further explain the difference, share and compare the benefits of each, then most importantly let you know how to tell which is which.

What is the difference between a percussion massage and vibration massage

The easiest way to explain the difference is that percussion massage is like a jackhammer while vibration massage is like a vibrating compactor They both vibrate, but you get completely different effects. Lets look at those effects..

Comparing the scientifically proven benefits
Comparing the penetration of percussion and vibration
Comparing the safety of percussion and vibration massage
Comparing the effects of percussion and vibration breaking up scar tissue
The ability to effectively apply percussion and vibration massage
How to tell the difference between a persussion and vibration massager
Getting a good massager
Appendix One: Table- Comparison of percussion and vibration massage
Appendix Two: The scientifically proven effects of vibration massage
Professionals
References

Summary video

Comparing the scientifically proven benefits

Vibration massage

Vibration massage has a host of scientifically proven effects and benefits (1–26) These are listed in the illustration, and in the appendix below. For more information please see our guide The scientifically proven effects of vibration massage- clinical applications..

Percussion massage

Before doing the research for this article I wasn’t aware of any scientifically proven benefits for percussion massage so I studied the websites that discussed the benefits of percussion massage. In every case, where they mentioned a scientific study, the study wasn’t even percussion, they were of vibration.

To put this into perspective it’s like jackhammer manufacturers claiming the benefits of vibrating the ground. Yes they vibrate, but but it’s for the purpose of driving in the head, not vibration the ground. If you wanted to vibrate the ground you’d use a compactor, not a jack hammer.

As an example. According to Google one of the top references for the benefits of percussion massage is this article by Hydragun. The scientific studies it referenced were of vibration, not percussion.

Google search results: Hydragun — Hydragun article: uses scientific studies of vibration to support percussion

Please see our article on the “science” of percussion for more information on how scientific information is misrepresented, and how to get half decent results in trials researchers even modify percussion massagers so they act as vibration massagers.

Comparing the penetration of percussion and vibration massage

Many websites on percussion massage claim is that by driving the head in it gives better penetration. This is total garbage. Vibrations always penetrate much more than physical penetration. For example, in a scientific paper about vibrations in the construction industry it states that while a pile driver may drive a pile in a few cm, the vibrations travel from 18-247m (27)⁠. However, lets look at our jackhammer vs compactor analogy. Jackhammers are designed to drive their head in and do a lot of damage, but their heads only go in so far. On the other hand the vibrations from compactors penetrate much deeper.

Comparing the safety of percussion and vibration massage

Comparing the safety of percussion and vibration massage is a no brainer. With vibration massage the vibrating pad sits on the surface and lets the vibrations soak in. Nothing is perfectly safe, but it’s pretty close to it. On the other hand with percussion massage you’re driving a head in like a jackhammer, and if you don’t know what you’re doing and aim it at injured tissue, blood vessels or nerves you can do some serious damage.

Comparing the effects of percussion and vibration massage breaking up scar tissue

Many websites and videos on percussion massage claim without providing any scientific evidence that percussion massage helps break up scar tissue and adhesions. They don’t say whether it’s old scar tissue or newly forming scar tissue, so lets look at each.

Old scar tissue

Scar tissue can stick things together and cause problems, and there’s a technique called cross friction massage that’s used to break it up (28)⁠. However, cross friction massage is actually tearing scar tissue, so it’s extremely aggressive and painful. Unless you use a very powerful percussion massager with a hard head in a very aggressive and painful manner it’s not going to effectively break up scar tissue, and if it did, just by the very nature it’s deliberately damaging tissue, so that should only be done by a professional who knows what he or she is doing.

Scar tissue formation: effect of vibration — A study showed that vibration causes muscles to heal with far less scar tissue

Newly forming scar tissue

The good news is that, as this pic shows, vibrations alone have been scientifically shown to stop scar tissue forming (18)⁠. It doesn’t need percussion. In fact the percussion head would probably do further damage to the healing tissues and cause more scar tissue.

The ability to effectively apply percussion and vibration massage

The previous sections give the relative benefits of percussion and vibration massage, but the effect of each also depends on how the therapy is applied. The big issue here is that most percussion massagers are massage guns.

As this diagram shows the percussion effect from a percussion massager is directed straight out of the head, so you need to point it like a gun. If it’s applied at an angle it’s effect is minimised. Massage guns don’t come with proper handles, so unless you are Inspector Gadget you can’t point the gun properly at places like your back.

Using a vibration massager prone — With a proper handle vibration massage can easily be applied anywhere on your body

On the other hand, some, not all vibration massagers come with a proper handle to allow you to use them anywhere on your body. Video of the massager pictured

How to tell the difference between a percussion and vibration massager

So, if you’re after a massager how do you tell the difference? There is some crossover between the two types of machine, but there are certain characteristics to look for.

The shape of the heads

The most obvious is the shape of the heads. Again, if you think jackhammer vs compactor your percussion massagers are going to have heads that look like they’re for driving in, while vibration massagers will tend to have flatter heads designed for vibration transfer.

Percussion vs vibration massage: amplitude

The amplitude of the head movement

The next thing to look at is the amplitude, which is how far the head goes up and down. You can easily see this if you look at the head side on while it’s running. A good vibration massager will have an amplitude of about 3-5 mm, while a percussion massager will have more. Looking at our jackhammer and compactor again, a jackhammer head might go up and down a few cm to drive the head in, but if the big flat plate on the compactor went up and down that far it would just bounce around uncontrollably.

Other machines

In giving that info, you will find massage guns with jackhammer heads that only go up and down a few mm. They aren’t vibration massagers, but rather cheap knock offs. Think of buying a cheap and nasty jackhammer that you take home and is not much more effective than a wood pecker. You’ll also find massagers that only vibrate up and down a mm or two. That’s not enough to impart decent vibration so they’re just buzzy toys.

Getting a good massager

For how to choose an quality massager that will do a great job and that you will be extremely happy with please see our article How to choose a massager, or you can go straight and check out our economical, easy to use professional standard machines: the General Purpose Massager or our Ultimate Quad Head Massager.

Professional at desk — Professionals: click the image to find out more and possibly trial vibration massage

Professionals

Most of our massagers are sold through professional clinics where where the professionals use them themselves and recommend them to patients or clients. If you are a professional and wish to know more about vibration massage please check out practitioner page for more information and possibly a sample massager to try this therapy yourself. Our 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.

Appendix One: Comparison of percussion and vibration massage

NOTE: You may need to scroll the table below left/right for more information

	Mode of operation	Scientifically proven benefits	Safety	Amplitude	Heads
Vibration massage	Penetrates with vibration	Extensive: see research summary	Relatively safe	3-5mm	Flattish for vibration transfer
Percussion massage	Uses vibration to push in head	Tries to claim the benefits of vibration	Penetrating head can cause injury or damage	larger	rounded or pointed

Appendix Two: The scientifically proven benefits of vibration massage

Relaxes muscles
Increases blood flow
Reduces pain
Causes "stretching" of muscles
Reduced post exercise soreness (DOMS) and speeds recovery
Assists healing
Increases performance of muscles

References

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The claims vs reality