Percussive guns
Recently, there are a lot of questions coming my way regarding the purchase and use of percussive massaging guns. On the outside, these seem like wonderful tools that may assist your horse in relieving muscle pain. They are commonly used in human rehabilitative practices, yet I caution strongly against them on your horses. Nothing can replace the specialized, trained hands of an equine bodyworker.
My issues with these devices are two-fold. One, they can cause damage if used incorrectly. And two, even with best intentions, if you haven’t studied equine anatomy, how do you know what you are affecting.
A horse can feel a mosquito on their skin. The impact of a massaging gun is a repetitive assault to those nerve endings. In addition, if there is any underlying injury causing the area of pain, you have now neutralized the pain receptors, increasing potential for further damage. Micro-tears or micro-fractures in tissue or bone can be exponentially increased by hammering away with one of these devices after nullifying the pain signals.
Along these same lines, we get to number two: equine anatomy. That, my friends, is an amazing network of nerves, veins, arteries, and lymph running through different plexi and tissues, including and most concentrated, in FASCIA. Yes, moving fascia is hands down an extremely important part of releasing muscular, vascular and neurological communication throughout the body. Releasing fascia is important, but HOW you release it is just as important. Did you know your body stores wastes in the fascia? Think how that would feel being released all at once. If you hammer along a muscle and hit a bony protuberance that has superficial nerves running across it, potential is there for damage.
As with anything on the internet, you can find arguments for and against using the percussive devices. I would argue that there is zero replacement out there for our hands. Hands on trained, certified expertise is necessary to note the release or change in tissue. A massaging gun cannot do that. There are a multitude of therapeutic devices that can assist the body in healing itself without the assault on tissues: Laser, PEMF, Bemer, Back On Track, to name a few.
Be patient. Allow the body time to heal. And find a very good practitioner to assist your team in healing and caring for your horse.