7 massage guns that cost less than the $600 Theragun
The Theragun is the gold standard of percussive massage guns, but it's not the only option to help ease sore muscles and speed up recovery.
Similar features for a fraction of the price
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The TimTam Power Massager delivers a powerful percussion therapy similar to that of Theragun, but at a fraction of the price. This TimTam model would be great for people who exercise intensely and frequently experience muscle soreness and muscle knots but don't quite have the budget for a Theragun. What buyers say: "I've been suffering from chronic shoulder, back, and sciatica pain for many years, trying tons of different instruments and balls for some help with the pain," . "The TimTam is lightweight and easy to use to target the specific areas that need relief. It does the work of a half-hour massage in five minutes. Completely amazing and life-altering.
Our pick for best value massage gun
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For less than $30 (although it runs for ), this percussive massager allows you to adjust the percussion massage intensity from light to intense, and it comes with four unique attachment heads to provide super-targeted deep tissue massage relief for your different muscle groups. The only downside to this device is that it uses a cord, not batteries, so it's not very portable. What buyers say: the "best hand-held massager I've ever had," and went on to say, "I have had IT band syndrome in my right leg and this massager has made a huge difference in my ability to move without pain."
A massage gun with heat
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This percussive massager combines heat therapy and dual pivoting heads for serious deep tissue massage relief for aches and pains. Heat increases blood flow and helps to loosen and relax tight muscle fibers and muscle knots while the percussive massage heads dig into the deep layers of your muscles. This is another that needs to be plugged in, so it may not be best for you if you want to travel with your percussion massage gun. What buyers say: "This is the for back and neck pain! I have bought moist heat pads, inversion table, lumbar braces, etc, but this is by far the best item for relieving discomfort."
For hard-to-reach spots
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The Thumper massager features a long (16-inch) design that makes it easy to target hard-to-reach spots like in between your shoulder blades. A common issue with self-massagers is that you must use your muscles to massage them, which is pretty counterintuitive and not at all like a massage chair. Thumper's design reduces the amount of effort and tension you actually have to put into moving the massager around your body. What buyers say: One , "I can't write enough adjectives that describe how I feel about this!!! AMAZING comes close to describing how I feel after using it, but I actually feel better than that."
Our pick for best overall
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The Purewave device is easily the best value out of all of these. It's not expensive enough to give you sticker shock, but it still delivers professional massager quality percussive therapy of up to 3,700 beats per minute. It's compact, cordless and lightweight (just 1.75 pounds), making it great for travel. On top of that, it comes with six attachment heads, including a facial massage stick, to help reach your trigger points. It takes one hour to charge the Purewave's battery, which lasts for 180 minutes, or 20 to 30 minutes of use each day for a week. What buyers say: Even professional , with one saying, "I love these so much that I use one in my practice and I also sell them. I looked for a long time, to find a massager that really had some punch to it and was a decent price. I found that with Pure Wave. It has great, adjustable percussive strength"