Objective To study the mechanism of massage therapy during the acute phase of acute blunt contusion in rabbits. Methods 24 rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups by computer， there are 6 rabbits each group： massage group after 20 minutes injury（A）， massage group after 72 hours injury（B）， injury observation group（C）， blank group（D）. All the rabbits’s right gastrocnemius muscles were blunt injury except the normal control group. Results There was no significant statistical significance in A and B from 1d to 14 d in terms of swelling degree. The ratio of body weight to wet weight of gastrocnemius was statistically significant between A and B（P<0.05）. The IGF-1 mRNA and MyoD mRNA results were no statistical significance between A and B， but the value of group B was relatively large. Conclusion The 72 hours massage therapy of skeletal muscle after acute injury may be better than that in 20 minutes in rabbits.