Using vibration massage for healing

There is very good evidence accumulating that the use of therapeutic vibration will enhance and accelerate healing while having no adverse affects. In this summary I'll discuss the evidence and practical applications.

The evidence

There are several types of evidence supporting the use of vibration to improve and accelerate healing.

• Proven effects
• Indirect evidence
• Human healing trials
• Animal trials

The proven effects

Therapeutic vibrations have been proven to increase circulation, which will increase oxygenation and the nutrient supply to healing tissues. For more info: The scientifically proven effects of vibration massage- with clinical applications .

Indirect evidence

Therapeutic vibrations have been shown to decrease post exercise soreness and speed the recovery of full function. Soreness and reduced function are the result of strenuous exercise causing microscopic damage to the muscle fibres. It is assumed that the reduced soreness and improved function result from that damage healing. For more info: The best massage for sports recovery .

Human healing trials

Several clinical trials have found that therapeutic vibration speeds and improves healing in patients suffering from diabetes. The researchers believe that this is due to the vibrations improving circulation. A review of the studies concluded:

“This scoping review summarized the evidence regarding the effectiveness of vibration therapy for hard-to-heal wounds. Low-frequency and low-intensity local vibration therapy is useful for promoting wound healing based on evidence from human studies. The current optimal settings could be summarized as follows: local vibration at a low frequency within 47Hz and low-intensity (1.78 m/s2) for less than 30 min, three times a day, and five weeks.”

Animal studies

Studies performed on animals (rats and mice) show improvements in healing far more profound than just due to increased circulation. :

• increased growth and size of muscle fibres
• a reduction of fibrosis (scar tissue)
• increased vascularisation
• Increased nerve regeneration
• increased production of natural growth hormone

For details please see our guide Using vibration to help healing . There is also an example picture below taken from one of the trials.

Why animal experiments

Researchers are unable to test whether similar things occur in humans because they cannot deliberately injure large numbers of people then later dissect them to examine the results. As long as it is safe though it is perfectly reasonable to assume that the results apply to humans. As an example, vibration is often used to speed and improve fracture healing. This was adopted following research which was done by breaking bones in sheep.

Practical advice

The researchers investigating diabetic patients strongly recommend the use of therapeutic vibrations to help healing, stating that it is very effective and has no adverse effects. Therapeutic vibrations have also proved to be very effective for reducing post exercise soreness and speeding the recovery of function. However, the potential uses and benefits may extend to any situation where healing is required.

Safety

While the diabetes researchers state that there are no adverse effects, one would need to use some sensible clinical judgment in other circumstances such as applying the vibration away from injured tissues until they were structurally sound enough.

Protocols

What the researchers used

• The diabetes researchers recommend the application of 47Hz for less than 30 minutes, thrice daily for five weeks.
• The animal researchers applied 45Hz for 10-30 minutes daily.
• In our guide on the therapeutic effects of vibration we recommend that the most desirable effects for musculoskeletal therapy occur at around 50 Hz.

Practice suggestions

The research suggests that if you use therapeutic vibration in the 40-50 Hz range as therapy for any musculoskeletal condition you will help speed and improve healing. However, the diabetes and animal research showed that good results were obtained by using repeated applications over time.
This could be used in any case where healing is involved, whether it is strained muscle through to something more complex. With appropriate advice patients can easily self apply 40-50 Hz therapeutic vibration using one of our massagers.

Massage guns are not suitable

As discussed in our guide The guide to evidence based percussion massage (massage gun) usage , massage guns (percussion massagers) are designed to drive their heads in like jackhammers rather than send in therapeutic vibrations. Because of this:

• they send in far less vibrations
• they cannot safely or comfortably be run at the required 40-50Hz
• the physical penetration of their heads are likely to cause damage rather than help healing.

May you or your colleagues use this?

If you or any colleagues might benefit from using vibration massage please check out our professional's sample page .