How to Use Massage Gun on Lower Back Pain

If you have a massage gun or planning to have one, here’s an overview of how you can use it and what to expect. In this article, we will try to understand how we can use it properly for back pain. The massage gun that I have is from Agro Company. You can also use a massage gun from another manufacturer.

Before we proceed, let me tell you that it’s very easy to use. So, let’s start.

How to use massage gun on lower back

A massage gun is slightly different from other common massagers because of the strength of massage, the force of the massage of a massage gun is more than the common massager. They are called massage guns because their look and shape are similar to the gun and the beats that come out of it are in the longitudinal direction as if firing a gun.  

When to use massage gun, its effect

Massage gun has an effect that goes to the deep tissue level, its effect goes inside the muscles and that is why it is very effective to release muscle stiffness, muscle tightness, or inflammation. We can use it for back pain, upper back pain, and thigh muscle pain or it can also be used for calf muscles. But it is usually very useful for sports personalities or athletes who usually complain of muscle soreness.

We can also use a massage gun for back pain, but one thing to note here is that if we have too much pain, we should not use this. This is because the force or strength of the massage gun is slightly higher. We should use this massager for the common backache which usually happens while doing daily household chores or sitting for long periods of time. We should avoid using it in conditions such as:

1. Sciatica
2. Bulging disc
3. Severe back pain

Here I would like to draw your attention to one more thing, that is, it is more effective for young people. As the massage force is slightly higher in a massage gun, so I will not recommend it for elderly people.

Setting up a massager gun

So it is very easy to use in back pain. A typical massage gun has its own settings and you can choose those settings as per your convenience. These settings are mode and strength. Through Mode, you can reduce the frequency of massage or you can increase it at your convenience.

Frequency means the number of times the massage head moves/beats in 1 minute, if it beats for more number of times in 1 minute then the frequency is high, and if it beats fear times in 1 minute then the frequency is lower. So start with a low frequency and then gradually you can increase the frequency as per your convenience.

There is another setting “Strength” in this massage unit, from which you can also decrease and increase the strength of the massage. That is, with how much force you have to give the massage, you can increase it according to your pain.

How to apply it on low back

So once you have chosen the settings, then move the massage gun from the top to the bottom and vice versa of the muscles bulk present on either side of the low back. Friends, we call this muscle a paraspinal muscle. We have a spine in the centre of the upper and lower back, the muscle bulk present on either side of it is paraspinal muscle. 

Whenever we have any kind of stiffness or tightness in the low back when actually there is a problem in these spinal muscles. Especially in cold weather, these muscles often suffer from muscular spasm, due to which we suffer a lot. On these muscles, apply gentle massage with this massager for 5 to 10 minutes, which has beneficial effects which go deeper into the muscle tissues.

Massage gun comes with different types of massage heads, so choose the appropriate head as per your convenience and you can have a massage following the procedure given above.

Other home remedies

A massage gun has its own effect on back pain, but, suppose you have severe pain, then you need to first address this severe pain. You can make use of a TENS machine for this. Or use infrared lamps for applying heat treatment. Once this severe pain subsides, then you can go using a massage gun to eliminate this pain completely from the root.

Along with all these remedies, if you also do exercises for back pain, then the process of curing the pain becomes even faster. I have already written an article on what to do or exercise for back pain you can read it here.   

Keep Reading: 6 Best ball exercises for lower back for quick pain relief

Sunit. S. Ekka

Dr Sunit Sanjay Ekka is a physiotherapist in practice for the last 15 years. He has done his BPT from one of the premium Central Government physiotherapy colleges, ie, SVNIRTAR. The patient is his best teacher and whatever he gets to learn he loves to share it on his Youtube channel and blog.