Massage may have a favourable effect on reducing perceived muscle soreness following eccentric exercise through reducing muscle damage and lessening limb inflammation (Smith et al., 1994). The aim of this study was to compare the effect of mechanical vibratory massage with manual massage following a bout of eccentric exercise (EE) on perceived pain, serum creatine kinase (CK) activity as a marker of muscle damage and limb circumference (LC) as a marker of oedema (Kraemer et al., 2004). 30 male subjects (mean±SD: 25.1±3.9yrs, mass 75.6±6.8kg, 13.6±2.9% body fat, 1 biceps repetition max (1RM): 16.5±2.5kg) undertook an exercise bout of 3 sets at 1 min intervals of 10 eccentric bicep curls (non-dominant arm) at 80% of 1RM. On completion of the exercise bout (Perceived Exertion=19 (Extremely Hard)) subjects were then assigned to one of three recovery groups: Seated Rest (SR), Manual Massage (MM) of the upper arm (using both effleurage and petrissage), or Vibratory Massage (VM) (G5, Physiotherapie Generale France) for 8 min with follow up assessments at 4, 8, 24 and 48h post EE. The highest perception of pain scores (0=No Pain; 6=Unbearably Painful) were immediately post EE (4.4±0.5) and was experienced in the mid forearm. VM was significantly more effective in reducing pain after 4h recovery (1.5±0.5, compared to 3.8±1.0 for MM and 2.9±1.0 for SR p<0.05, Repeated Measures ANOVA) to 48h recovery (0.5±0.4, for VM compared with 2.8±0.8 for MM and 3.4±0.7 for SR, p<0.05). CK increased from 61.3±15.9 U . l-1 pre-EE to 163.3±47.9 following SR recovery (p<0.05) at 24h and to 305.4±69.4 (p<0.05) at 48h. Neither VM nor MM significantly affected CK levels. Mean LC was calculated from measurements at the mid biceps, mid-forearm, distal humerus and proximal ulna. LC increased by 23.0±4.8mm post EE. The greatest changes in LC were observed in the mid forearm, the point at which the highest pain was experienced. Neither MM nor VM changed the recovery of LC, which remained at 6.5±3.9 and 5.5±3.2mm (p<0.05) respectively above pre exercise levels after 48hrs. The results from this study support the contention that VM is more effective than MM or rest at reducing muscle pain induced by eccentric exercise, an effect that does not appear to be mediated through less muscle damage (as judged by CK release) or by decreased oedema (as judged by LC) but possibly by a greater mechanical stimulation of the skin by VM.