Hot Stone Massage therapy has many benefits including....
Immune boosting
Quite remarkably, even after just one session, immunity can be boosted. Knowing that you can boost your immunity simply by being pampered and massaged is wonderful to know!
Managing chronic pain
For those with chronic pain conditions, such as Fibromyalgia, massage has been shown to bring tangible positive effects. The science shows that this is due to the lower levels of substance P, which is how the body partly transmits pain signals. Other research has shown that people with painful Rheumatoid Arthritis have also experienced less pain.
Draw out toxins
Many practitioners of hot stone massage believe that one of the real benefits of this type of massage is its ability to draw toxins to the surface of the skin and eliminate them through the body’s natural sweating process. This leads to a wonderful radiant glow.
Self-healing
Whether it’s due to the balance of energy flow, or some other lesser understood process in the body and mind, a hot stone massage can restore balance, and many feel it helps with self-healing.
It’s comforting and relaxing
Think of the pleasure of being made warm by a fireside on a chilly day and you’ll understand why the heat of the hot stones is so comforting and relaxing. It’s like being deeply embraced, right into your soul. It just feels like your ‘home’.
The heat aids depth
With the hot stones, one of the major benefits is that the heat from the stones penetrates your body, bringing many of the benefits of massage at a deeper level. It allows intense muscle relaxation which enables the massage therapist to actually work very deeply, without the same pressure that they would need to apply in a deep tissue massage.
Relief from tension and pain
Heat is a well-known natural pain reliever. If tension is behind an ache or pain, then heat can be enormously effective at releasing the tension and thus easing the pain. This is believed to be because when heat is applied to an area, the blood flow to that region increases. It can help alleviate spasms and enable a joint or muscles to be gently flexed and regain movement and mobility.
Relief from stress and anxiety
Massage, including hot stone massage, has been scientifically proven to reduce stress and anxiety. It’s actually fascinating to learn why this is. Lots of processes are stimulated by massage. Endorphins and other feel-good hormones are released which reduce stress and anxiety. At the same time, the ‘stress’ hormones, such as norepinephrine and cortisol, are lowered.
Aids sleep
Just one of the huge benefits of having a hot stone massage is that it will help ease you into deeper restful and restorative sleep. Massage is particularly beneficial for easing insomnia in postmenopausal women. More research needs to be done on the benefits of hot stone massage and sleep, but it certainly seems to promote good sleep in everyone we know!
Hot stone massage aftercare
If you have a hot stone massage, we recommend following our massage after care. In particular, make sure you drink plenty of water as the heat can cause you to sweat and dehydrate. Plus, the movement of toxins is best managed by flushing water through your system.
With a hot stone massage, be honest with the therapist about the heat of the stones. Hot stone massage isn’t recommended for those who are pregnant, or who have diabetes, high blood pressure, or if you are on medication which thins the blood.
