One of the best reasons to have a massage is to release toxins in the body. Or at least, stimulate your body to start releasing toxins and promoting self-healing and wellness. Hot stone massage has a number of health benefits, so does a hot stone massage release toxins as effectively as other forms of massage? – Absolutely!
A Brief History of Hot Stone Massage
Using hot stones in massage can be traced back thousands of years. They were used in Chinese massage therapy and practices for the purpose of improving the function of internal organs and to promote overall wellness for the person being massaged.
It’s clear that the healing potential and the ability for a massage with the added angle of hot stones was noticed a long time ago. While we can’t be sure how the practice first started, we can be sure that the clients felt a lot better afterwards as they do today.
There aren’t many things the Roman’s missed out on and there is some history to show that they made good use of hot stones too. Using the stones after hot baths for both their heat and cooling benefits.
Modern hot stone massage in the Western world involves a combination of Swedish massage techniques and the application of hot stones. The combination of which gives the client a wide range of health benefits offered by both treatments.
Does a Hot Stone Massage Release Toxins
Massage in general is designed to offer a wide range of health benefits, a lot of which are linked to each other. These benefits reduce heart rate, reduce stress, lower blood pressure, strengthen the immune system, stimulate the release of serotonin and endorphins, increase blood circulation, reduce or resolve muscular and tissues pain, and more.
Some of the health benefits linked to all the overall benefits includes stimulating the body to release more toxins. Our lymphatic systems (explained in detail here) are a network of vessels that works to break down and clear out the toxins we are exposed to every day.
Our lymph nodes can only handle so much load, and for most of us our day-to-day lives mean we are taking on a huge load of toxins from pollution, bad diet, poor lifestyle choices, chemicals in products, and more. It’s common to be putting too much load on your body, and without some help via a massage or other techniques you will feel ill-effects.
This is the main reason why a lot of people will feel very tired and lethargic after their first massage. This is because the body is suddenly trying to shift a load of toxins and it’s a drain on your energy. But, you will feel a million times better after you get over this ‘backlog’ of toxins and are managing a cleaner system.
You have probably seen all the detox products on the market. Smoothies, waters, mixtures, certain foods, etc. While there are benefits to these and some people really feel a lot better after a detox diet, a hands-on massage is a lot more effective.
Other therapeutic methods of stimulating your body’s natural healing process and the releasing toxins include, time in the steam room, steam baths, saunas, and other spa sessions. So if you’ve been debating visiting your local spa, give yourself a nudge and book one of these therapy sessions – or all of them!
Living a healthier lifestyle and making time to take care of your body should be one of your top priorities. Think about it. You’ve never heard someone say they had regrets about living healthier, right? Yet, most people regret all their unhealthy habits and lifestyle at some point.
I’m a MA, (CMT) Certified Massage Therapist, Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), and Reiki Master — I’m a licensed massage therapist with over 10 years of experience in the industry.