A portable massage apparatus for use by an operator in the therapeutic application of repetitive vibratory force to a recipient, the massage apparatus comprising: a housing having a hand portion, a cuff portion and a non-conductive bracket connecting the hand portion and cuff portion along a longitudinal axis of the housing, the bracket being configured to electrically insulate and isolate the hand portion and the cuff portion from the operator and the recipient respectively, the hand portion being sized and shaped for suitable use by a human user and having a top, a bottom, and a side defining an enclosed chamber, the cuff portion having an outer surface and an inner surface defining another enclosed chamber; a motor mounted axially within the enclosed chamber of the hand portion, the motor having a rotatable drive shaft extending along the direction of the longitudinal axis from the enclosed chamber of the hand portion and into the other enclosed chamber of the cuff portion; an oscillating assembly mounted within the enclosed chamber of the cuff portion, the oscillating assembly including an offset cam operatively connected to the drive shaft, and including a plate mounted about the offset cam axially outwardly thereof, the plate oscillating in an orbital motion upon rotation of the drive shaft thereby translating rotary motion of the drive shaft into orbital oscillations of the plate; and a counterweight mounted within the housing wherein the counterweight decreases vibration in the hand portion by compensating forces generated by the plate as the plate oscillates in the orbital motion, the hand portion being sized and shaped for suitable use by a human user characterized in that the motor is a pancake motor, and in that the hand portion is sized and shaped such that the palm of the user's hand is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and the axis passes through the palm of the hand of the user at all times during use of the apparatus. a housing having a hand portion, a cuff portion and a non-conductive bracket connecting the hand portion and cuff portion along a longitudinal axis of the housing, the bracket being configured to electrically insulate and isolate the hand portion and the cuff portion from the operator and the recipient respectively, the hand portion being sized and shaped for suitable use by a human user and having a top, a bottom, and a side defining an enclosed chamber, the cuff portion having an outer surface and an inner surface defining another enclosed chamber; a motor mounted axially within the enclosed chamber of the hand portion, the motor having a rotatable drive shaft extending along the direction of the longitudinal axis from the enclosed chamber of the hand portion and into the other enclosed chamber of the cuff portion; an oscillating assembly mounted within the enclosed chamber of the cuff portion, the oscillating assembly including an offset cam operatively connected to the drive shaft, and including a plate mounted about the offset cam axially outwardly thereof, the plate oscillating in an orbital motion upon rotation of the drive shaft thereby translating rotary motion of the drive shaft into orbital oscillations of the plate; and a counterweight mounted within the housing wherein the counterweight decreases vibration in the hand portion by compensating forces generated by the plate as the plate oscillates in the orbital motion, the hand portion being sized and shaped for suitable use by a human user characterized in that the motor is a pancake motor, and in that the hand portion is sized and shaped such that the palm of the user's hand is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and the axis passes through the palm of the hand of the user at all times during use of the apparatus.