20 Benefits to Vibration and Whole-Body Vibration Therapy
Vibration Therapy may seem like a new, undefined, or unproven health modality; however, it has been around much longer than you might realize.
Before we jump into the history lets define what it is:
Vibration therapy is a physical therapy that incorporates forced vibration stimulation on the human body to enhance treatment effectiveness. A vibration plate machine is used to generate and transmit the needed vibration to the human body.
History:
Using vibrations as a therapeutic method is believed to have originated in ancient Greece.
Greek physicians used bow-like instruments with strings that could be plucked, sending out minor vibrations. They were mostly used over the wounds of soldiers as it was discovered that these vibrations helped pus to drain more quickly and stimulated healing.
Interestingly, vibration therapy doesn’t have much recorded use after ancient times until the 1800s.
Though the Russians are often credited with the modern “discovery” of whole body vibration, it was actually a Swedish physician named Gustav Zander who developed exercise machines, including a vibration one around 1867.
Later, in 1895, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (the one who invented flake cereal) introduced a vibrating chair to his health clinic to improve circulation and address certain ailments.
Russia came into the picture later in the 1960s when it was discovered that vibrations could be used to strengthen the bone mass and muscles of astronauts. This was a key discovery because astronauts were likely to lose bone mass and suffer fractures at a younger age due to space travel.
Fast forward to today, and vibration therapy is no longer exclusive or used only by astronauts and health clinics. In fact, it’s now available to almost anyone. *Excerpt from Article. Reference below
Benefits:
There is a laundry list of direct and indirect benefits using vibration therapy in some form be it the plates or a gun, or even the DIY of bounding and jumping.
Some of the Preventative Benefits include:
| Muscle Pain & Injury | Lower Back Pain | Nerve Pain | Urinary Incontinence |
| Muscle Atrophy | Improve Blood Circulation | Motor Skills, Balance & Gait Issues | Stress |
| Tendon & Ligament Injury | Microcirculation Disorders | Cerebral Palsy | Sciatica |
| Bone Loss Prevention | High Blood Pressure | Parkinson’s Disease | Fibromyalgia |
| Knee Joint Injury | Lymphedema | Metabolism Disorders | Restless Leg Syndrome |
Actions:
Take action now on supporting your health and longevity. You have options like finding a companies that offer recovery services like my friends at RXR3 Recovery Lounge that offer Whole-Body vibration plate therapy but you can look into an at home device like a Theragun or HyperIce which is the market leader of percussion/vibration therapy devices. I personally have a device from Costco that is made by Sharper Image that works very well.
Resources/References:
Arthritis
https://www.hypervibe.com/us/blog/vibration-therapy-for-arthritis/
*https://theartofantiaging.com/little-known-benefits-of-vibration-therapy/
Post Menopausal Osteoperosis/Bone Health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4440196/
https://www.vibrationtherapeutic.com/vibration-plate-therapy-benefits.html
