As the popularity of fitness all over the world, the fascia massage gun for fitness has gradually changed from a mysterious professional tool to a common tool that many fitness enthusiasts have. At present, the price range of the massage guns on the market is very large. The cheapest massage gun may be only $ 50, while the most expensive one sells for more than $ 400. As a beginner who has just stepped into fitness, you may not want to invest $ 400 for a message gun, but you also worry that a cheap massage gun for less than $ 100 will damage your body, so I wrote this article , Introduced the principle of the message gun, and compared the performance of message gun with other similar relaxation methods such as stretching and massage. At the same time, I summarized the key aspects that need to pay attention to when purchasing the fascia gun. Finally, A list of low price massage guns of Aliexpress that it is worth buying

The principle of massage gun, does it really work?

When it comes to massage guns, we have to talk about the fascia first, fascia is a layer of fibrous connective tissue that wraps around our muscles. In short, the fascia wraps our muscles just like a sandbag. The white one in the picture is the fascia.Everyone must have seen this kind of tissue on raw beef.

Research in modern medicine shows that the main function of the fascia is to reduce the friction between different muscles, thereby helping the muscles to contract better. In sports our muscles are innervated by the body’s nerves.After the exercise, although the muscles can relax, the excited nerves may still drive the muscles to continue to tension, and a continuous tension will cause minor damage to the muscles and fascia. Our body is a deilicate mechanical structure with a high degree of freedom, when a muscle is tense or insufficiently tensioned, more muscles will fall into the wrong way of movement to maintain the balance of the body, which is why many people who have pain backs also have pain shoulders and pain necks. When the injury is deeper, the fascia of different muscles will stick together, and then the body will often have many uncomfortable reactions: such as muscle stiffness , Tension, local skin hypothermia, slack of muscle tissue, muscle inelasticity or decreased elasticity, skin depression, irregular mass or rope-like hard tissue between the deep bone sutures of subcutaneous muscles, this phenomenon itself is a way of self-protection of human body, but also the protective mechanisms hinders our muscle recovery, especially for some muscle deeply covered by other muscles, they are difficult to reach with traditional tools such as foam shafts.

Back to massage gun, its principle is to use electric motors to physically stimulate muscles with high-frequency compression, improving the elasticity and ductility of muscles and fascia, promoting local blood circulation and relieving pain. Some sellers also claim that massage gun can completely untie the fascias which are stuck together, returning the tissue to its full health state before local injury, but there is currently insufficient scientific evidence to support this claim. Although there is still some scientific debate about the role of the massage gun, The actual use experience of it is still very amazing.It only takes a few minutes for your tense muscles to be loose and the hole body becomes relaxed again magically. Does it sound like a Thai massage?

Massage gun vs massage and body stretching

Can massage guns completely replace massage or stretching exercises? The answer is no. Compared with massage, the advantages of massage guns are its frequency and uniform strength, one-time investment and efficient and rapid relaxation. For large muscles The effect of a massage gun for 1 minute may exceed that of a massage for 5 minutes. However, for specific local injuries or small muscle massage, correct massage is still more effective. If you have serious injuries in sensitive position such as back or neck, it is not recommended to use a massage gun for private treatment. At the same time, it is not recommended to use a massage gun to massage the small muscle groups around the spine and neck, too. Similarly, stretching is an indispensable step. The most correct function for fitness of the message gun is to ease the stretching time after exercise. For those who have insufficient knowledge of stretching or who have insufficient time, the experience is perfect. In fact, the massage gun can only play a role of relief and relaxation. If you want to completely relieve or recover muscle damage and pain, the best solution should be to give up the wrong exercise method and lifestyle, and strengthen targeted exercise to improve the strength of the muscle and strength, reduce chance of fascia damage. Therefore, if you have time and money, it is recommended to use the massage gun as a supplementary method for massage and stretching. If the conditions do not allow, then the massage gun can partially replace the effect of massage and stretching. Of course, you must know that actively improving yourself is theonly and perfect solution.

Other things you need to know

From the perspective of practical application, is there a big difference between a cheap massage gun and an expensive massage gun?

There is no big difference in the principle of them, and in theory, the massage effect of them is not much different

So what is the main difference between a cheap massage gun and an expensive massage gun?

The main difference is their core components, that is, the quality of the motor, the appearance of the product,its working noise, repair rate and after-sales services.

Can I use a cheap massage gun without harming my body?

For novices, yes, even if many people have the consumer concept that a product which is too cheap must be poor in quality, however based on the principle of massage guns, a massage gun of about $ 100 can meet the needs of beginners. In fact, the massage guns used by many coaches are not very expensive. For coaches, the low frequency noise and repair rate are enough to carry out normal massage courses.

Why do so many people still buy expensive massage guns?

First of all, in most cases, more expensive price represents better quality. For a massage gun, it is a more stable motor, a more durable battery and lower noise. At the same time, the most advanced products are also a symbol of a person’s socialization, wealth and status. It’s like you ask, a Mercedes-Benz is good enough, why do many people still buy a Lamborghini or Bugatti Veyron?

Key features of a massage gun

Whether a massage gun is good or not, You can make your decision mainly from the following aspects

1 Motor

The motor is the core part of the massage gun. Most of the mechanical failures are also caused by the motor. If you want to buy a massage gun online, we need to confirm the warranty period of the motor and carefully read the feedbacks to see if there is a motor failure risk.

2 massage head

Different massage heads are suitable for different body parts. Basically, we need at least four types of massage heads to meet our daily needs.

• Large spherical massage head: mainly used on the body’s large muscle groups
• Double head (U-shaped head): used for combing erector spinae and neck(Low frequency and slightly pressing)
• Bullet / pointed head: commonly used for deep muscles, soles, buttocks piriformis
• Air plug head: suitable for bones(carefully use)

3 batteries

The battery is the guarantee of the standby life. It is not that the larger the battery capacity, the better. When the battery capacity is too large, the weight of the equipment will increase accordingly. For many female users, a too heavy massage gun will also cause problems. Therefore, please pay attention to the weight of the equipment when purchasing. Nomally, a battery which can support more than 4 hour standby time is enough, The longest standby time canbe 8 hours, however, for most of users, it’s not quite practical as we have so many leisure to charge our equipment. So basically, a 4 hour battery is enough, if you want to save more money, a 2 hour battery is good, either.

4 noise

Massage guns are more likely to produce major noises in high-frequency and low-frequency gears. In actual use, the noise can be tolerated below 65 decibels. If the noise exceeds 70 decibels, you may become an embarrassing star in the gym .

5 Frequency

Theoretically, a larger frequency range and more gears are better, but from a practical point of view, most of us use more mid-range frequency, that is, in the range of 1800-2400r / min, and almost all fascia guns can cover these frequencies. If you have special needs, you need to pay attention to the maximum massage frequency of the device, but I do not recommend using high-frequency gear for long-term massage, because the noise and massage strength at high frequencies are unbearable for most of us.

Reviews of best-selling massage guns on Aliexpress

The massage gun sold on Aliexpress ranged from 30$ to about 100$, my principle is that Iwant both good quality and low price, it’s a contradictory goal,however we must avoid a product which can last for only 2 month. So I studied the best-selling models at different pricves on Aliexpress, and read their one star feedbacks, which are all poor feedbacks revealing products’ flaw, in this way, maybe you can find out how much you shall pay for a cheap massage gun.Here are the most representative models of each price range on Aliexpress

Model	Phoenix A2	Sispop	YOSYO191210	BCAMELYS S-19021
Price	71-85$	58$	55.4-57$	63$
massage head	4	4	4	6
Weight	0.996kg	1.01kg	1kg	1.087kg
Battery	1500mAh	2400mAh	2400mAh	2400mAh
Duration time	2-3h	2.5-3.5h	2.5-3.5h	2.5-3.5h
Frequency/Rate	1800-3200 3 level	1900-3300 3levels	1900-3300 3levels LCD verson: 1900-3300 20levels	1900-3300 20levels
Noise	62.3-67.3dB	51.4-63.8dB	54-60dB	<45dB
Poor Feedbacks	0.1% poor feedbacks Plastic poor apperance pretty noisy	3.5% poor feedback Slow delivery Motor mulfunction	3.2% poor feedback Slow delivery Screen mulfunction	Not enough feedbacks to study

Model	Lx-008	Musseles Mr. cue	Tsingying	Xiaomi Yunmai
Price	36$	88$	62$	101$
massage head	4	4	6	4
Weight	1.12kg	1.1kg	1kg	0.7kg
Battery	2500mAh	2500MAH	2400mAh	2600
Duration time	2-3h	2.5-3.5h	2-3h	5-7h
Frequency/Rate	1200-3300rpm	1200-3300rpm 20levels	1200-3000 20levels	1800-3200 3levels
Noise	<45db	51.4-60.2dB	<60db	46.2-53db
Poor Feedbacks	2.1% Poor shipping Poor motor	0.8% Delivery problems Seller all replied	0% only 400 feedbacks	3% of 360 Poor shipping Few levels

Note:Duration time is flexable due to the frequency when use the massage gun.We measured noise of some massage gun personally, they are in red letters, while those in black letters are noise provided by sellers. It seems that almost every seller has lower the actual noise of its products.Personally I think noise under 65 dB is totally acceptable. Full score of feedbacks are 5 stars, ratings within 3 stars are considered as poor feedbacks.

According to feedbacks of the best-selling prducts, it seems that those products under 60$ may suffer a moter mulfunction. About 1% buyers will encounter this situation. The best selling stores all support replacement and refund service, but the shipping may be very long according to where you are. For products more than 80$, there are few product quality problems.

In fact, many stores sell the same products, the picture above may contain at least 70% of all massage gun models on Aliexpress.Some sellers even have the same product detail discription. Such as these two, Link1, Link2. The products are the same, however the service and price are quite different, some of the stores have advantage in price, but poor in service and delivery speed. In this way, we shall make our decision due to 2 factors, price and service. Trustworth stores with better warranty ensure are more reliable, which can save our time from refunding and exchaning flawed products.Here are some models and stores which I think is worthy to buy

Best massage gun models you can buy on Aliexpress 2020

Mini massage gun

As a very new type massage gun in 2020, the mini massage gun has a very unique advantage in size, it has four speed mode and 2200mAh which can support 2 hour constant work, for suers who have special need in size, it’s a model you cann’t miss.

Xiaomi Yunmai

Although Xiaomi yunmai has no cost performance in every aspect of product features, however, the good material and motor quality still make it  a very competitive model, it has no fancy function and cool appearance, but compared with other models which are made by small factories in China, the total quality of Yunmai ,which is made in the most advanced factory in China, makes this model very worh to buy, if you have a budget of more 100$, just buy Yunmai.

Massage gun with life time maintenance

As I introduced, there are more than 100 models of massage guns sold on Aliexpress, however, most of them are alike and may be from the same factory, so campared with brands and models, the service of the sellers are more important, a seller with good guarantee can save our time in case of maintain service and Changing or Refunding.

In total, this massage gun maket on Aliexpress is very huge, there are more than 10000 massage guns sold on Aliexpress per month, the best selling models and sellers changed quickly here,  before you finally pay your money , it’s best to review the buyers’ review carefully.

Body parts which are applied to massage guns

Massage gusn are suitable for the following situations:

1. Local muscle tension and stiffness

2. Relaxation after exercise

3. Pain points of local muscles

4. Correct posture abnormalities caused by muscle tension; for example, massage gun can soften patellar cartilage and loosen the lateral overtight muscle fascia, ease peripheral muscle spasm and stretching pain caused by knee joint injury.

The massage gun is relatively safe for body parts with enough meat and muscles, such as the gluteal muscles of the buttocks, the quadriceps muscles on the front of the thigh, the posterior femoral muscles on the back of the thigh, and the triceps on the back of the calf.

Body parts which are not applied to massage guns

Massage guns can’t be used at the raised parts of human bones, areas rich in neurovascularity and have few muscle protection, places after fracture. Specifically, Do not use message gun for these body parts:

1. Front side of neck

The nerves and blood vessels are very densely covered here, and the carotid arteries that supply blood flow for brain are also here. There is a structure called the carotid sinus here, which is very sensitive to external mechanical compression. When it is suddenly subjected to physical compression, it will produce cardiovascular reflexes, which lowers blood pressure and slows the heartbeat, leading to insufficient or interrupted blood supply to the brain. Extreme cases may cause dangerous outcomes such as fainting, cardiac arrest, or even death. So never sue massage gun for this part. If you feel a little nervous in this part, you can relax yourself by strenching.

2、Bones

The reason is simple, it hurts, really.

3.body part near the collarbone, Armpit and inner side of upper arm, lateral knee, The back of the knee joint

Nerve and blood vessels are densely packed around these parts. It is very dangerous to hit here with amassage gun, it is easy to cause damage to the vascular nerves which Is irreversible.

4. Inside the elbow

There is a bony structure called the ulnar nerve groove, and there is an ulnar nerve running inside. Sometimes pressing here will cause numb of the whole hand..

So, what should I do if the muscles in the above areas are uncomfortable and tense? You can choose traditional methods, such as massage, hot compress, strenching and other conventional methods.

Basic way to use massage guns

When using the massage gun, you must follow the direction of the muscles, so it’s better to remember the anatomy of the muscles. When relaxing, themasage gun shall be properly pressed against the muscles to make them resonate with each other which increase massage permeability. Our key principle is to push a little hard and move the massage gun slowly and tightly,for exemple, hold the massage gun against your muscle for 10-20 seconds before move, the distance of each movement is very small, make sure every part of our muscle have the same massage time. Choose different massage heads according to your relaxed part.

Advanced way to use massage guns

Advanced way emphasizes different massage methods for different body locations and different injuries. In fact, in addition to the muscle torsion which are considered as the source of pain by most people, Another bigger reason for pain is the twisting of the fascia. The problem of the fascia causes the local and overall movement incoordination, so that once exercise, it will irritate painful feelings. First of all, We must understand that pain is only a signal, not the disease itself. Only by looking at the pain correctly can we find the source of the pain and cure the pain at its root. This is a complex but also practically simple thing, that is, different levels of human body problems can cause different types of pain. To solve the root of the pain, it is necessary to know at which level the problem is.

In general, the common pains can be divided into two types. One is a local pain. The location of this type of pain is more fixed. The better way to deal with it is to first use the massage gun deeply pressed the tight and painful muscle for a long time and high massage frequency, then we can apply a low frequency and shorttime treatment of the fascia which wraps the painful muscle. The main point of it is to slowly press the massage gun into the tight zone of the target muscle with a constant force, turn the machine to its high-frequency vibration, and maintain it at a single point for at least 45 seconds, so that the muscles can initiate a self-repair process which acting on the metabolism of actin. When deal with the fascias, the method is oppositing. Touch the target point quickly with low-frequency vibration and very short time, just one touch, at this time, the sudden change of a single point will cause the stress response of the fascia on the same force line, so that the local and overall fascia structure is coordinated, which will not cause the same pain again.

method of massge gun for local pain

Location	Frequency	Time	Impact Deepth
Hard muscle	High（3200/min）	45s	Deep
Shallow fascia	Low（1800/min）	10s	Shallow

The second type of pain is involved pain. This type of pain is caused by nerve compression by other tissues. The location of this pain is relatively unfixed. The best way to deal with it is to firstly perform multiple short-term, deep-press, low-frequency treatment on the vertebral segments dominated by the pain location, and then perform long-time, light-press, high-frequency treatment to related neurocortical area. The key point of operation is that when massaging vertebral, the masage head must be deeply pressed to the position closest to the transverse process before the massage gun is turned on, in this way, the abnormal stress around the vertebral body can be released and reduced. It also eliminates nerve compression caused by soft tissue, which solves the root problems of involved pain. As the root problems have been eliminated, the fascia treatment of the cutaneous nerve area is mainly relaxation, so it requires long-term, light-press, high-frequency treatment.

method of massge gun for involved pain

Location	Frequency	Time	Impact Deepth
Vertebral segment section	Low（1800/min）	3s	Deep
Skin section fascia	High（3200/min）	30s	Shallow

For example, the pain (discomfort) in the unfixed area on the outside of the lower leg, we shall consider more about the abnormal stress of the lumbosacral sacral, firstly perform multiple short-time deep pressure and low frequency treatment of the segment, which can release the abnormal stress around the vertebral body, and then when coming to the lateral fascia of the lower leg, a treatment with high-frequency, light touch and long time is needed, the main purpose is to relax the fascia in this area. The judgment of the nerve segment must be accurate, and the pressing strengh to relax the fascia must be light.

In fact, ,massage gun is designed for the fascia. Inside the human body, both the abnormal tension caused by muscle problems and the tension caused by bone and joint problems will be redistributed through the fascia (especially the superficial fascia) , the redistribution will leads our body to average the tension again.This structure has powerful awareness, So we must re-average the fascia tension after relaxing the muscles and bone joints. The key to the treatment of the fascia is one word—light! How light is it? It’s best to adjust the effect of the vibration just falling on the subcutaneous fascia.