The Theragun G3PRO
The Theragun is one of the most sought after instruments in the fitness world right now, with the ease of self use where ever you are it is proving to be popular amongst fitness and health fanatics, as well as those just wanting to look after their everyday health and relieve tension. We wanted to put the Theragun to the test to see if this is the beginning of the end for sports massages or whether this will be something you can use to help boost the recovery process short term.
The Theragun treats through percussion, this being repetitive strokes with the aim of increasing blood flow and heat to the muscles and is said to be effective in relieving muscle soreness and enhancing recovery.
The Theragun was used by myself, a Chartered Physiotherapist, on different muscle groups in different individuals to get a first-hand take on the effect of the Theragun.
The overall results of using the Theragun were positive relieving areas of muscle soreness, relief from nerve related pain and recovery from delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS). It was found that the Theragun worked most effectively with a combination of soft tissue massage initially, more so because as a therapist I like to be hands on primarily in order to assess the muscles themselves prior to treatment. The Theragun was particularly successful on more ‘stubborn’ areas of muscle where there may be a natural weakness preventing full muscle release. These areas must then be assessed and treated appropriately with manual therapy and exercise prescription from a qualified therapist to assist in injury prevention. The Theragun therefore is also a useful diagnostic tool assisting assessment as well as treatment in locating these areas of potential weakness.
However, it was found that the Theragun was not for everyone due to personal preference. Some individual found the vibrations from the instrument too intense and were unable to tolerate it for longer periods of time. It could however be something you come become a accustomed to if it's being used on a regular basis, , but I found for some on the initial use found it to intense and slightly uncomfortable.
Within this review I was additionally interested in trialling self therapy. With the Theragun being hand held, it was possible to easily treat some areas of the body independently which is great for those of us needing a little extra treatment and in time constraints! The variation in treatment heads also allows more specific isolation of muscles and muscle groups during treatment.
To summarise, the use of the Theragun has shown to be a useful tool in treating a range of injuries or even just as a maintenance therapy for yourselves. It can be used by qualified and un-qualified individuals due to the ease of use.
You can get your own Theragun over at https://www.theragun.com/
Written by Lucy Bell BSc, MCSP, PG Dip Veterinary Physiotherapy
