5 Therapeutic Modalities and How to Choose Between Them: Vibration, Vibroacoustic, Sound, Percussive, and PEMF

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” ~ Nikola Tesla

Life is vibration. The human body, like all matter, vibrates all the time at differing frequencies. When the numerous frequencies of sound or music are converted to specific vibrations and applied to our bodies, this natural, non-invasive therapy can help bring us into a state of healthy resonance. Working in concert with the body to achieve healing at the deepest, cellular level of our being, the 5 therapies of vibration, sound, vibroacoustic, percussive, and PEMF can deliver optimal health. Read on to learn how these innovative Therapeutic Modalities products can help and how to choose the best one to meet your needs.

What Do These 5 Therapies Have in Common?

Every therapeutic modality we included in this review uses some type of repeated frequency and/or vibrational wavelength to achieve healing benefits. Whether it’s healing a wound or breathing, our bodies continuously use energy at the cellular level. Because the body is always moving, micro-vibrations produced by the cells essentially transmit, receive and hum with energy. This makes us more susceptible to the positive benefits of vibrational and biomagnetic therapies like the five modalities explained in this article. 

What Makes These 5 Therapies Unique, and How Do They Work?

Although vibration, sound, vibroacoustic, percussive, and PEMF therapies all use certain levels of frequencies and waves to optimize healing and often overlap in the conditions they treat, these different modalities do offer some unique characteristics. Whole-body vibration therapy is ideal for more involved and serious medical conditions, while targeted vibration therapy offers effective relief for smaller body areas. Percussive therapy is best suited for tight or rigid muscles, ligaments, and fascia, enhancing range of motion and flexibility, and alleviating muscle soreness. Sound therapy is often used for mitigating stress, empowering the brain to increase cognition, mental acuity, and memory, along with helping ease psychological disorders. Vibroacoustic therapy enhances well-being and inner peace, a useful tool for pain and mood disorders, while PEMF therapy is especially proficient with painful conditions, decreasing inflammation as it enhances energy and vitality.

How Do You Choose the One You Need?

Choosing the best therapy modality is dependent on your specific symptoms and/or medical condition, your budget, and what kind of therapy you may enjoy the most. 

Vibration 

Ideal therapy for stroke recovery, the elderly, and others challenged by exercise, whole-body vibration improves muscle strength, balance, and gait speed, while it also promotes weight loss and healthier bones. Both whole-body and targeted vibration reduce pain. This therapy can be achieved by using Vibration Plates! 

	Power Plate Vibration Plate Machine with Compact Design | MOVE View Product
	Power Plate Pro7 Full Body Vibration Plate Machine with Training Software View Product

Best: Power Plate Compact | MOVE and Power Plate Pro7

Vibroacoustic

If you love relaxing to music, you’ll love Vibroacoustic Therapy Products. Intensifying and enhancing the popular pastime, this innovative sound technology provides a wide range of benefits for both psychological and physiological wellness. Alleviating stress in every part of the body, vibroacoustic therapy (VAT) helps to reduce pain, discomfort, and negative moods.

Vibroacoustic Therapy Vibrating Mat by SoundWell View Product

Best: Vibroacoustic Therapy Vibrating Mat by SoundWell

PEMF

Providing exceptional pain and inflammation relief, PEMF Therapy Devices are useful for a wide range of conditions that cause discomfort, such as injury, arthritis, cancer, surgery, and chronic back issues. It’s ideal for anyone struggling with fatigue often associated with painful conditions. 

Full-Body PEMI Mat System for PEMF Therapy by PureWave View Product

Best: PureWave PEMF

Percussive

The repetitive drilling vibrational massage that percussive therapy delivers is perfect for chronic pain, muscle tension, and limited range of motion. This stimulating therapy is also deeply relaxing by penetrating the body’s soft tissues up to an inch deep. Check out all of our Massagers.

	Power Plate Mini+ Handheld Massager View Product
	Power Plate Pulse Percussion Massager View Product

Best: Power Plate Mini+ and Power Plate Pulse and 

Sound

As one of the most relaxing treatments for both mind and body, sound therapy helps to lower hypertension and reduces the risk of coronary artery disease and strokes. Relaxing and calming, sound therapy helps with pain management along with easing headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and depression. 

5 Therapies Explained

Vibration Therapy

As more research becomes available to prove its viability, vibration therapy (VT) has been gaining interest among people living with Parkinson’s disease, stroke recovery, spinal cord injury (SCI), multiple sclerosis (MS), and other neurological diseases, as well as conditions that cause spasticity, lower bone density, and the loss of muscle mass and strength. Utilizing low-intensity vibration via whole-body vibration plates or smaller, targeted devices that both send anabolic mechanical signals to the musculotendinous and bone systems within the body, VT helps to stimulate muscle contraction, relaxation, and the stretch reflex, along with promoting healthy bone formation by optimizing osteoblast formation. NASA continues to employ this therapy for their astronauts to help prevent bone loss, while professional athletes and others often use it to prevent delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). And in other countries, forms of sound-based therapy like sonotherapy have even been used with other serious conditions like even cancer.

• Do You Need Whole-Body or Targeted Therapy? If you live with either a temporary or permanent medical condition that affects most of your body, whole-body vibration therapy (WBVT) is the ideal solution. If you just want to address one or two body areas, it’s best to use more targeted vibration therapy (TVT). Whole-body vibration comes in a 20 - 50 Hz frequency range and is delivered via platforms or plates that you lie, sit, or stand on to receive the vibrations through your entire body. Targeted vibration comes in a higher frequency range of 300 - 500 Hz and is typically delivered via a handheld device that you can apply to specific muscles or body areas. Although both approaches help with reducing pain and spasticity, while also promoting healthier muscle and bone, whole-body vibration machines are the better solution for people living with more involved medical conditions. Targeted therapy is best suited for helping specific muscle groups to recover more quickly following injury or surgery.
• What Conditions Can Vibration Therapy Treat? Vibration therapy offers a wide range of proven health benefits that can improve a broad array of medical conditions, such as osteoporosis and lymphedema. Emerging studies are even showing its efficacy in treating metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. Demonstrated to increase bone density, muscle mass/strength, and metabolism, VT also enhances circulation, alleviates stress, and reduces joint, muscle, and back pain.

Learn More: How To Choose The Best Vibration Plate For Your Needs

Learn More: Clinical Benefits of Vibration Therapy (According to a Therapist)

Vibroacoustic Therapy

Combining elements of both vibration therapy and sound therapy, vibroacoustic therapy (VAT) is often utilized for both physical and psychological applications. Delivering therapeutic music and low frequencies through specially-embedded speakers called transducers, this is heard by the ears as sound and is felt by the body as vibration. Stimulating nerve bundles along the spine, through the limbic system, and up into the brainstem, this vibrotactile input also stimulates the medulla, activating the auditory nerve connecting with all of the body’s muscles. Mood-lifting chemicals flood the brain, signaling the body to relax and de-stress. Additionally, the low frequencies of vibroacoustic therapy relax the body’s tissues, dilate the blood vessels, and open the lymphatic pathways, resulting in an increased ability for the body to heal in all ways. Demonstrating positive outcomes on several measures, VAT is ideal for treating pain and mood disorders.

• What Are the Different Types of Vibroacoustic Therapy Equipment? There are plenty of ways to receive vibroacoustic therapy at a clinic or at home, including specially-designed recliners, chairs, beds, mats, tables, pillows, and cushions. Usually employing transducers to transmit the sound files, VAT may also use exciters or bass shakers to transfer the vibrations into the body. The more involved the system, such as beds or recliners, the more therapy it offers for the whole body. Smaller VAT devices like pillows or cushions, and handheld VAT devices are better suited for targeting specific areas of the body.
• What Conditions does Vibroacoustic Therapy Treat? Because it has been proven to provide significant results that benefit human health both physiologically and psychologically, vibroacoustic therapy is frequently utilized for helping with a wide range of conditions. It increases cellular movement, optimizing cellular regeneration and energy while it also reduces pain and inflammation. Relaxing and soothing, VAT enhances relaxation, mitigating psychological disturbances such as anxiety and depression. Forty years of VAT research have demonstrated its ongoing efficacy at lowering blood pressure, mitigating pain, enhancing sleep quality, promoting circulation/lymphatic flow, increasing inner peace, and shortening healing and recovery times. 

Learn More: The Vast Benefits of Vibroacoustic Therapy

Learn More: A Blend of Sound and Vibrations: What Is Vibroacoustic Therapy and How Does It Work?

PEMF Therapy

Pulsed electromagnetic field technology (PEMF) helps our bodies to sustain optimal physiological function, producing electromagnetic fields with various frequencies, waveforms, and pulses at the lowest end of the spectrum to ensure safety along with efficacy. Directly stimulating electrical activity within the muscle tissues that these electromagnetic fields interact with, PEMF therapy devices charge the cells, resulting in the highest performance, functionality, and recovery, enhancing the body’s vitality. Research has shown that PEMF therapy has been just as effective as a low-to-moderate dose of an opioid analgesic in reducing pain, while it also decreases the production of free radicals (anti-oxidative) and stimulates osteoblast production for faster bone healing, along with mitigating inflammation. 

• What Works Better - Mats or Full Body Devices? Available in the form of small mats for spot treatment, seating mats to put on chairs, and full-size mats for the floor or bed, PEMF therapy also comes in the form of enclosed mats, therapy beds, and whole-body devices that you stand, sit or lie down on. Some smaller handheld PEMF applicators can be used for the eyes, ears, and teeth, and as spot treatments for bruises or smaller body areas. Varying in their intensity and what conditions they’re able to address, mats work better for more targeted therapy and are much easier to transport, while whole-body PEMF machines or beds work better for medical conditions that affect the whole body.
• What Conditions Does PEMF Therapy Treat? Primarily utilized in the treatment of acute pain from osteoarthritis, chronic low back issues, and injuries, PEMF therapy can also improve mobility and alleviate pain following surgery. Researchers are also testing PEMF as a possible treatment option for pelvic and bladder pain, along with reducing pain associated with cancer treatments, and fatigue caused by MS. Because this unique therapy has been shown to decrease pain, swelling, and inflammation, along with improving circulation, cellular metabolism, and energy, PEMF has the potential to help with a diversity of medical conditions. Approved by the FDA in 1979 as a safe and effective treatment for non-unions of bone, PEMF therapy is used extensively in the US and Europe for effective bone repair.

Learn More: On The Pulse: The Top 8 Benefits of PEMF Therapy

Learn More: PEMF Therapy Devices: What They Are and How To Choose The One You Need

Learn More: PEMF Therapy For Dogs: A Helping Hand for Your Best Friend

Percussive Therapy

Utilizing repetitive, rapid bursts of pressure combined with vibration therapy, percussive therapy applies this rhythmic, thumping pressure directly to the soft tissues of the body, relieving pain, loosening tension, enhancing range of motion, and working out tight knots in the muscles. Basically taking the place of a massage therapist performing deep tissue massage, which is often painful and uncomfortable, percussive therapy sort of punches the sore muscles, stimulating the nerve receptors and desensitizing the area, resulting in pain reduction both during and after therapy. Its unique hammering action also reaches more deeply than human hands or foam rollers can, relieving deep-down knots that hide within the layers of fascia and muscle, and possibly even deeply trapped emotions and trauma, according to recent research. 

• Are Massage Guns the Only Way to Receive Percussive Therapy? Although there are therapists who use a similar tapping method, percussion massage guns are the easiest way to administer percussive therapy. Much faster and more intense than tapping, percussion massage guns also won’t wear down the practitioner’s energy. You can go to a practitioner for professional percussion therapy sessions, or just purchase your own massage gun to use at home. 
• What Conditions Does Percussive Therapy Treat? As a popular tool often used to both prevent and treat muscle, ligament, and myofascial conditions, percussive therapy increases circulation and lymphatic flow, reduces muscle spasms, loosens tight joints and muscles, breaks up scar tissue and adhesions, and alleviates chronic pain associated with persistent back problems, migraines, and TMJ. Percussion therapy has also been shown to reduce DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness), increase range-of-motion (ROM) and flexibility, and hasten healing and recovery. It’s often employed for sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, herniated/bulging discs, and shin splints. 

Sound Therapy

Covering a vast range of treatments from sound baths to music therapy, sound therapy is a form of sensory therapy that uses specific sound and music frequencies for healing on the cellular level. Specifically utilized to affect your brainwaves positively, sound therapy enables people to listen to rhythmic sounds and sound vibrations at certain frequencies, helping to align the patterns of electrical activity created by billions of neural cells in our brains to the same frequencies. This brainwave entrainment assists users of sound therapy to better harness the power of the mind, resulting in improved healing of both the mind and body. Auditory beat stimulation, such as binaural beats that play two separate tones in each ear, is perceived as a single, almost euphoric tone by the brain. Such examples illustrate that medicine is finally starting to incorporate and draw upon the field and research in Music Therapy, which has been a formal field of study and registered discipline in academic institutions for decades. 

• How Is Sound Therapy Administered? Sound therapy is administered through a variety of methods, such as sound baths that use singing bowls, tuning forks, gongs, chimes, or voices. Sessions can be non-active, with listeners sitting or lying in a comfortable position, or more active, with listeners engaging in tai chi or yoga as they simultaneously receive sound therapy. Because it’s not about one particular sound or a set of sounds, sound therapy is always adjusted to meet the needs of the individual listener, cultivating improved intention and receptiveness. Different types of music, natural sounds, and white noise are also used in sound therapy - eliciting relaxation and pain alleviation with slow melodies and lower frequencies while encouraging enhanced focus and energy by using steady, upbeat, higher-frequency music and sounds.
• What Conditions Can Sound Therapy Treat? Abundant, compelling research supports the use of sound therapy for both psychological and physical pain. Singing bowls, when combined with meditation, have been demonstrated to significantly reduce anger and stress, especially for people who are new to this kind of practice. Binaural beats have been shown to reduce anxiety while playing and listening to music has been repeatedly linked to overall improvements in mental and physical health. As a clinical and evidence-based intervention, music therapy can address multiple healthcare and educational goals, including stress management, the expression of feelings, memory enhancement, improved communication, pain alleviation, physical rehab/recovery, and optimal wellness. Whether it’s used by itself or as a complementary therapy, sound therapy promotes peace of mind for positive health and well-being. 

Final Thoughts

Although it may be hard to believe that therapeutic modalities utilizing certain frequencies and vibrations are effective for healing, previously published and ongoing research indicates that these therapies are real. Enhancing the body’s natural vitality and self-healing mechanisms, vibration, sound, vibroacoustic, percussive, and PEMF therapies have all been demonstrated to be effective methods for treating both psychological and physiological conditions.

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about these fascinating healing modalities and how you can incorporate these therapies into your life to achieve optimal health or your healing practice to better help your clients.

We invite you to peruse our comprehensive selection of Therapeutic Modalities Products. Be sure to check out more Vibration And Vibroacoustic Therapy articles on our blog, Caregiver University.