The TheraGun is a gun-shaped device that you aim towards your muscles to help boost your recovery from athletic activities. Read our TheraGun review to find out if it actually works.
What Is the TheraGun?
TheraGun is a unique handheld device applied to the surface of the skin to boost healing and recovery.
The patent-pending device was created by Dr. Jason Wersland. It’s primarily marketed towards professional sports medicine practitioners who are looking for a way to improve recovery and wellness for their clients.
However, it’s also available for individual users to purchase online (and you can safely use it on yourself).
The device itself is lightweight and battery-operated. It describes itself as a “muscle management” device specifically designed for sports trainers, physical therapists, chiropractors, and doctors to expedite the healing process. Or, athletes can use it on themselves.
How Does the TheraGun Work?
TheraGun uses a specific type of vibration stimulation to create a more unique and effective approach to muscle treatment.
Here’s how the official TheraGun.com page describes the device:
“Research has shown that muscle treatment leads to faster recovery from injuries and better overall performance. The TheraGun was invented to accelerate the muscle recovery process through rapid and rhythmic relief to all parts of the body.”
Using vibration stimulation, TheraGun claims to provide all of the following benefits:
-Reduces pain
-Breaks up scar tissue
-Stimulates blood flow
-Enhances rehabilitation and reduces recovery time
-Decreases lactic acid buildup
-Increases lymphatic flow
-Restores normal function
-Releases muscle spasms
The device weighs about 3 pounds and is relatively compact, featuring an easy-grip handle that can be used anywhere. If you’re using the device on yourself (or on a patient), then you can control the location and pressure of the treatment based on the skin’s response.
To use the TheraGun, you place the device on your body, leaving it on your entire body for 2 to 5 minutes or using it on a specific body part.
Then, the device operates at a frequency of 60 to 65 Hz with an amplitude of 1/2 inch to relieve chronic pain.
That frequency is important because chronic pain has a frequency of 5 to 50 Hz as it travels throughout your body. Thus, when you use the TheraGun, the vibrations from the device spread throughout your body more quickly than chronic pain. As the official website explains,
“The nervous system’s hierarchy is programmed to pay attention to the higher frequency stimulus over the pain stimulus. This is important because the TheraGun’s vibration and amplitude on the body send signals to the brain faster than pain signals can travel. This high frequency vibration actually overrides pain signals. Therefore, for a period of time, pain is significantly decreased.”
The official TheraGun website has posted a number of videos of athletes using the device after a workout to recover. They’re seen using the device on their biceps, rotator cuffs, and other parts of their body.
The videos feature Dr. Jason at the UCLA track and field facility working with Olympians Mikele and Me’Lisa Barber. The sisters have worn gold in multiple world championships over the years.
TheraGun Tech Specs
The TheraGun comes with all of the following tech specs:
-Weight: 2 pounds, 8.2 oz
-Dimensions: 7.5” x 5.5” x 2” (with a motor mount of 3” x 2.5”)
-Six different angles to allow treatment of different body parts
-Battery charge that lasts approximately 20 minutes depending on your usage and pressure
Your purchase also includes a lithium ion battery charger, a 12V cordless lithium ion battery, and 1 ball and 1 cone AmpBIT attachment.
TheraGun Pricing
The TheraGun G1 (with 1 battery and 2 AmpBITs) is priced at $599.00 USD from the official TheraGun.com website.
About TheraGun
The TheraGun company was founded in 2008. Over the past 8 years, Dr. Jason Wersland has tweaked and perfected the device. He started marketing it to pro sports teams and college athletics programs in 2014. The device is marketed towards professionals (and individuals) looking for superior muscle therapy to enhance their recovery.
The TheraGun G1 is the fifth generation of the TheraGun and just arrived on the market in summer 2016.
The TheraGun company is based at the following address:
9420 Wilshire Blvd Floor 4
Beverly Hills, CA 90046
The company’s Instagram account has numerous photos and videos of the device in action, including footage of the device working on professional athletes, world champions, and Olympians.
Who Is Dr. Jason Wersland?
Dr. Jason S. Wersland, DC is a sports chiropractic physician and the founder and inventor of the TheraGun.
He was inspired to create the device after he suffered a disc herniation after a motorcycle accident. This led to intense pain and atrophy. He realized there was a need for “an effective home or mobile treatment device for patients to use as they needed.” The TheraGun is what he came up with.
Dr. Jason claims he has personally used the TheraGun “thousands of times on hundreds of patients from all walks of life” and has personally seen it work. He believes his device is “The most effective therapeutic vibrating muscle treatment device on the market” today.
Should You Use the TheraGun to Speed Up Athletic Recovery?
The TheraGun is a unique medical device that purportedly enhances athletic recovery using the power of vibrations. The gun-shaped device is held against your skin, then you pull a trigger to release vibrations at a specific frequency. You can change the frequency and pressure based on your desired level of recovery.
Priced at $600, TheraGun might be outside the budget of the average weekend warrior. However, it appears to be catching on in college athletics programs and among professional athletes.
Dr. Jason doesn’t appear to have conducted any major clinical trials involving the product. However, he has tweaked the design extensively over the past 8 years. The TheraGun G1 model released in Summer 2016 is the fifth generation of the device. Dr. Jason also claims he has personally seen it work thousands of times on his own patients – so there’s anecdotal evidence that it works.
If you’re looking for a small lightweight athletic recovery tool to use on yourself and boost your recovery, then TheraGun might be the right solution for you.
