| If you're not a regular at the health spas or | | | | make sure it's not too hot. There's a balance |
| wellness centers, the term hot stone massage | | | | between having the stone hot enough to be |
| may have you wondering just how one can be | | | | effective on the muscles but never so hot that it |
| massaged with hot rocks. Massages are supposed | | | | causes discomfort for the client. |
| to feel good and relax you. Just how hot are | | | | Massage oil is applied to any part of the body |
| those stones that end up on your bare skin? | | | | where the stones will be used. Oil may also be |
| Many people feel uncomfortable or suffer from a | | | | applied directly to the stones. This serves to |
| slight level of anxiety when faced with the | | | | reduce friction and allows the stones to be more |
| prospect of trying something unfamiliar. Learning | | | | easily moved over the skin at the same time |
| more about it ahead of time can usually go a long | | | | pressure is being used to relax the muscles and |
| way toward mitigating those concerns and can | | | | tendons. One key advantage to the use of |
| also increase the effectiveness of the process. | | | | heated stones is that it then requires less force |
| The use of heated stones in massage has been | | | | or pressure to reach the deeper muscle groups. |
| practiced for thousands of years, going back as | | | | Anyone who has had a deep tissue massage can |
| far as 400 BC. References to this method are | | | | certainly appreciate this! |
| found in ancient writings and reports from all over | | | | Some massage therapists who practice hot stone |
| the world, especially throughout Asia, the Hawaiian | | | | massage will place the stones in rows on the |
| Islands and our own Native Americans. The more | | | | massage table and cover them with a cloth. The |
| recent surge in popularity in the United States can | | | | client is then instructed to lie down so that the |
| be attributed to the work of Tucson massage | | | | heated stones press along the spinal column. |
| therapist, Mary Nelson, in the early 1990's. | | | | Almost immediately, the heat from the stones will |
| Different practitioners will use their own | | | | begin warming and relaxing the muscles. |
| combinations of methods when providing a hot | | | | A hot stone massage can be an extremely |
| stone massage. Prior to any session, the stones | | | | beneficial and pleasurable experience. The key, as |
| will have been cleaned, sterilized and heated to | | | | with most things in life, is to do your research in |
| between 50 and 80 degrees Celsius. The | | | | advance to find a well-trained and experienced |
| massage therapist will first handle each stone to | | | | professional massage therapist. |