Hey Josiah!

If they help you feel better and move better than go for it. There is not a ton of research out there on these products and they do not seem any more special than other soft tissue techniques but no harm in buying one if you enjoy using it.

Mike
TRS Staff

As a previous commenter said, there’s not much research, but this doesn’t mean they don’t work. Percussion guns are so new, I’d be surprised if we saw true research within the next 5 years. Research is expensive, and in the case of physical therapy techniques, you can infer much of the benefit without a double blind placebo controlled trial backing you up. With that said, Kelly has a couple vids of using percussing just to improve blood flow. He shows on an infrared camera how a mere 90 seconds with a percussion gun increases bloodflow in an area that was low.

They’re great for pain. They’re relatively quick at creating a change. Worth getting for sure in my opinion.

A deep foam rolling session seems better for me when it comes to making big changes, especially with deeper tissues, but usually when I’m in a rush I don’t want to lay on a foam roller for 5 minutes. For simple pain and quick relief, the massage guns are unbeatable.

Take a crack at finding more on the subject.
Here are some things Kelly has added to the conversation about these items.
Using a Percussion Gun? Add Movement To It
TimTam Power Massager – Kelly Starrett, How-To Work Through Muscle Stiffness
Painful Area? Percussion First Aid