The Best Percussion Massagers For Your Sore Muscles

 

If foam rollers or massage sticks aren’t enough for your muscles, check out percussion massagers—they not only get those deep knots with a variety of vibrations and rapid movements, but they can also give you a professional-feeling massage right from home.

Sometimes there’s only so much foam rollers and massage sticks can reach, but with a percussion massager, you aren’t depending on the weight of your body or the pressure from your hands. You can rub a percussion massager over the spots of your body that need a massage with minimal effort.

Whether you’re looking for a deep massage or a light stretch, be sure to check out our top percussion massager picks below!

Best Overall Percussion Massager: Pure-Wave CM7 ($125)

So you’ve heard that percussion massagers are a great way to therapeutically treat your muscles, but how do you use them effectively? With the Pure-Wave CM7, you get the massager plus access to educational videos to help you learn how to use it and how it works scientifically. Not only does this massager have powerful percussion settings, but it even has micro-vibration massage therapy settings so you can say goodbye to knots, muscle spasms, and stress.

With 6 separate attachments to reach different body parts and pain points, you can use the percussion to reach deep into your soft tissue, or the micro-vibrations to relieve tension and stress. You can use the Pure-Wave CM7 to relieve migraines and jaw pain to back pain to even feet cramps–from head to toe, this massager can reach it all.

If the quality of this percussion massager interests you but you want a cheaper alternative, try the Pure-Wave CM5 for $99 which has everything the CM7 has except micro-vibrations and facial attachments.

Best Bang for Your Buck Percussion Massager: Renpho Deep Tissue Massager ($36)

The Renpho Deep Tissue Massager is a great way to massage your entire body, and with 3600 pulses per minute, you’ll be pain free and relaxed wherever you use it. And for the quality and price, this massager is definitely the best deal.

There are 5 interchangeable attachments that can massage your muscles differently (and at different degrees), plus 4 different percussion modes and 3 strength modes. There’s so many combinations you can try in order to relieve your muscle pain.

Don’t get tangled up in cords! The Renpho is a cordless, rechargeable massager that can massage up to 140 minutes before needing to be charged again. It also has a comfortable silicone handle that make massaging easy, even if you’re hitting hard-to-reach spots.

Best Deep Tissue Percussion Massager: Wahl ($27)

Like our other picks, the Wahl is a full-body massager that relieves muscle pain and fatigue. This percussion massager is different from competitors because it has higher and lower pulses per minute than the average of other massagers. Ultimately, with a high of 4,000 pulses per minute, the Wahl can give you a deeper muscle massage than other massagers.

The Wahl comes with 4 interchangeable heads to relax, target, and massage your muscles in different and effective ways. Many percussion massagers will slow down (or stops altogether) if you press deeper into your muscles, but the Wahl keeps moving under pressure.  If you’ve got deep knots that are difficult to break up then check out this massager.

Best Double Head Percussion Massager: Naipo ($40)

If two percussion heads isn’t enough to get deep into your muscles, then maybe you need a double head percussion massager like the Naipo Handheld Massager. With 3,400 pulses per minute, two heating options, and three attachments to choose from, you can gently or intensely massage the different parts and points of your body like your neck, back, shoulders, arms, legs, and feet.

Another feature that comes with the Naipo is that the attachment nodes have a heating option that boosts blood circulation and gives you a soothing massage. The handle of this massager is long and has an anti-grip surface that lets you reach difficult spots without losing any leverage.  

If you liked this double head percussion model but want a simpler, less expensive option that doesn’t have heat functionality, check out the VIKTOR JURGEN Handheld Back Massager.

Easiest Grip Percussion Massager: Pure Enrichment ($50)

All of our picks so far are massagers with medium to long handles, but this may make it difficult for you to massage the easy-to-reach muscles. With the Pure Enrichment Deep Tissue Percussion Massager, you can alternate between the extended handle and the hand-held palm design.

This massager has a comfortable grip no matter what design you use. With the extended handle design, you’ll be sure to not drop this massager when using the ring-style handle. And with the detachable Velcro hand strap, you can remove the massager from the long handle and massage your muscles using just your hand.

The Pure Enrichment massager has 2 massage settings depending on the type of relief you’re looking for, and 2 different attachments—one for maximum coverage and deep muscle penetration and one for a soft and relaxing massage on tense muscles. Lastly, the Pure Enrichment has an infrared heating option for maximum relief.