Theragun: The Answer to your Muscle Soreness

The Theragun is a massage device that looks and sounds like a power drill that uses percussive massage therapy to treat muscle soreness and relieve pain. The tool has increasingly been used by (and found effective for) everyone – from professional athletes to weekend warriors and everyone in between.

Like many great products and inventions, the Theragun was created by Dr. Jason, a chiropractor by profession, after he suffered a personal injury. He was looking for a way to treat himself between his regular treatments with the aim of getting better faster. Of course, the early versions of the Theragun were cruder, but after many iterations of change, we’ve been left with the G3 Pro and personal models G3 what we are using at °CRYO locations.

The Science Behind the Theragun

The Theragun is designed to “talk with the nervous system” using three key combinations:

• Amplitude: How deep does it go? (The Theragun goes 16mm)
• Frequency: How quickly does it pulse? (The Theragun uses 2400 pulses per minute on high and 1750 on low speed)
• Torque: How much pressure until it stalls out? (The Theragun delivers up to 60 pounds of force)

When you put all three of these together, it will result in a top-grade percussive therapy device.

What is percussive therapy?

Percussive therapy, also known as percussion therapy, is a form of soft tissue manipulation intended to reduce muscle soreness and increase range of motion. It is a deep muscle treatment that delivers rapid and long vertical strokes into the muscle, causing a neuromuscular response.

 

Benefits of the Theragun:

In general, the Theragun has been known to:

• Reduce pain
• Increase blood flow
• Break up scar tissue
• Decrease lactic acid
• Release muscle spasms
• Increase lymphatic flow
• Improve range of motion
• Improve body awareness
• Make recovery more efficient

Medical study Proof:

In a study comparing the effects of vibration therapy and massage in the prevention of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) by comparing 45 healthy female non-athletic subjects divided into three groups. Muscle soreness was reported to be significantly less for the experimental (vibration and massage) group as compared to the control group at 24, 48, and 72 hours of post-exercise. Massage therapy showed significant recovery in 1 Repetition maximum, compared to the control group, and vibration therapy shows significantly less Lactate dehydrogenase level 48 hours of post-exercise compare to the control group.

They conclude that Vibration therapy and massage are equally effective in prevention of DOMS. Massage is effective in the restoration of concentric strength.

Yet vibration therapy shows clinically early reduction of pain and is effective in decreasing the level of Lactate dehydrogenase in 48 hours post-exercise periods. (Shagufta Imtiyaz & Zubia Veqar, 2014)

 

How does °CRYO use the Theragun?

At °CRYO we have been using the Theragun professional-grade percussive therapy device within °CRYO Freezio (Physiotherapy) session to alleviate pain, improve mobility, and enhance performance for patients. It has become another tool in helping our clients to live a life in motion.

 

Bibliography:

Shagufta Imtiyaz, Zubia Veqar, and M.Y. Shareef (2014) To Compare the Effect of Vibration Therapy and Massage in Prevention of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3939523/

Sport medicine, the torento atheletic club (2019)the truth behind the theragun & how we’re using it.

https://www.sportmedicineclinic.com/Living-Well/the-truth-behind-the-theragun-how-were-using-it