Are massage guns safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about massage guns during pregnancy?

1. Standard safety guidance for massage guns advises against use on recent scars, open wounds, sunburns, rashes, bruises, or areas with a bleeding or clotting disorder, since percussion in these areas can worsen tissue damage or raise complication risk. 1
2. The same guidance advises avoiding the face, eyes, ears, head, neck, chest, spine, and areas over superficial nerves and blood vessels, and cautions against prolonged use of more than about 30 minutes in one session due to a risk of muscle fiber damage or internal bleeding with aggressive, repeated use. 1
3. A systematic review of relaxation massage in pregnancy found women are about five times more likely to develop deep vein thrombosis while pregnant, and specifically recommends avoiding deep tissue massage on the arms and legs, working only in a side-lying position, and never massaging the abdomen, the same categories of caution that apply to massage-gun use. 2
4. Joint laxity does measurably increase in pregnancy, most notably in the last trimester, but researchers have found this increase doesn't correlate directly with relaxin hormone levels, meaning local massage isn't understood to meaningfully change hormone-driven ligament changes. 3
5. Relaxin's role is to help soften pelvic connective tissue in preparation for labor, and physiological widening of the pelvic joints late in pregnancy is a normal, gradual process rather than something triggered by outside pressure on an unrelated muscle group like the calf or shoulder. 4

Is massage guns safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. There's no pregnancy-specific research on massage guns in any trimester. Standard device precautions (avoid bones, joints, and sensitive areas) apply as they would outside pregnancy.
• Second trimester. As your belly grows, keep the device away from your abdomen entirely and stick to areas like calves, shoulders, and upper back where muscle tension commonly builds.
• Third trimester. Swelling and varicose veins become more common late in pregnancy, both of which are already on the standard list of reasons to avoid percussion massage over an area, pregnant or not.