# Why doesn't vibrating massage on muscles & body parts mess up blood flow through veins? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-vibrating-massage-on-muscles-body-parts-mess-up-blood-flow-through-veins/786601 "2017-05-14T17:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-vibrating-massage-on-muscles-body-parts-mess-up-blood-flow-through-veins/786601/1 "2017-05-14T17:47:56Z")
I’ve sat in vibrating massage chairs and I have this giant Brookstone hand held percussion massager [like this](https://picclick.com/Brookstone-15-Speed-Programmable-Adjustable-Percussion-Massager-Model-132163566473.html) that is powerful enough to beat the muktuk out of you at the highest levels. It’s pleasurable in a tactile sense while using them as the vibration is soothing but I have to wonder what’s going on _inside_ the body with all that vibration. I’m assuming veins and arteries are pumping along while being vibrated thousands of times per minute… but how? Why doesn’t all that vibration mess things up on microscopic scale especially inside your brain? ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-vibrating-massage-on-muscles-body-parts-mess-up-blood-flow-through-veins/786601/2 "2017-05-14T18:44:31Z")
Not exactly an answer but the answer of why is that if our bodies were that weak we wouldn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-vibrating-massage-on-muscles-body-parts-mess-up-blood-flow-through-veins/786601/3 "2017-05-15T07:47:46Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Why doesn’t all that vibration mess things up on microscopic scale especially inside your brain? Why should it? I’m not saying it can’t, in fact it does happen, but to figure it out why it usually doesn’t happen you ought to start with describing why you think it should. I mean, the body is exposed to vibrations and shock waves all the time, from the natural impact when you walk to a hearing damaging concert bass. Why aren’t they scrambling your brains? I’d guess it’s because the body isn’t a rigid construction and everything just temporarily flexes. Only at very high levels of energy and/or extended exposure do things degrade, and most people don’t use their massagers that much, and if they start experiencing negative effects they hopefully cut back. > **[Vibration white finger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_white_finger)** > > Vibration white finger (VWF), also known as hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) or dead finger, is a secondary form of Raynaud's syndrome, an industrial injury triggered by continuous use of vibrating hand-held machinery. Use of the term vibration white finger has generally been superseded in professional usage by broader concept of HAVS, although it is still used by the general public. The symptoms of vibration white finger are the vascular component of HAVS. > HAVS is a widespread recognized indu... ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-vibrating-massage-on-muscles-body-parts-mess-up-blood-flow-through-veins/786601/4 "2017-05-15T08:06:20Z")
I have never heard of VWF. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-vibrating-massage-on-muscles-body-parts-mess-up-blood-flow-through-veins/786601/5 "2017-05-15T08:48:47Z")
I did not know that VWF existed thank you for the information Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-vibrating-massage-on-muscles-body-parts-mess-up-blood-flow-through-veins/786601/6 "2017-05-15T09:14:39Z")
It’s a danger for people who work with vibrating machines a lot, and on rare occasions people who play computer games with a rumble-controller for days on end … ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-vibrating-massage-on-muscles-body-parts-mess-up-blood-flow-through-veins/786601/7 "2017-05-15T17:54:21Z")
I have it on good authority that vibration massage to certain parts of the body actually increases blood flow in the immediate and surrounding areas, at least for a time. I shall let you Google citation pics on your own.