I have been teaching tissue stone massage for the past nine years with the use of hot and cold temperatures. I feel it is time to step up the education in order to help more therapists understand the benefits using hot and cold so that their clients may more fully benefit from the therapy they give. Another added benefit for you the therapist is that once you integrate this type of therapy into your offerings, your business will grow by leaps and bounds. I’ve seen it happen again and again. My client base grew substantially once I started using both hold and cold stone therapy techniques. And best of all my clients are happier and healthier. Isn’t that our goal as therapist? To be the best healers we can be!

An interesting fact; the body heals by change; therefore it is time we start to challenge our bodies on an internal systems level and not just on an overall structural level. Over 75% of the hot stone massage therapists I have come across do not use cool or cold stones in their treatments but that is starting to change. I’m so glad it is and I’m doing my part to spread the word, via articles, interviews, shows, DVD’s, and educational materials. It’s a great change that needs to happen in our industry.

I taught 2 classes in deep tissue stone massage at the National AMTA show while putting emphasis on body mechanics, safety, and incorporating cool/cold stones. It goes without saying that hot stones are the rage of stone massage and our clients love them. It’s also a very popular technique and easily available. But I am going to suggest that cold or cool is the most important temperature we can work with and the most misunderstood.

Cool Stones have the following amazing benefits for your clients:

• The cold temperature minimize soreness when working deeper and longer sessions.

• The cold pulls excess heat out of the body from longer sessions (excess heat could cause a client to become nauseous and overly sore the following day.)

• The cold can help strengthen the systems of the body on a cellular level by challenging our standard temperature (98.6 F).

You are probably wondering what the best type of stone is to use in your cold stone therapy? One natural element stands out above all others. It’s not only beautiful to look at, but comes in any shape and color you can image. It’s marble! Even though marble feels cold to the touch it is actually the same degrees as the air surrounding it. Marble is more conductive to temperature than air, so it tends to feel colder. What that means is that skin in contact with air dissipates heat into the air more slowly than skin in contact with marble. The stone is absorbs the heat at a much greater rate than the air, making your skin feel cold, thus the stone feeling cold to the touch.

It is up to us as massage therapists to learn as much as possible about what we offer and to share that knowledge with our clients. In the next few months we will continue to explore the benefits of hot and cold stone massage and how to best incorporate it into your massage.

 

 

Emily Taylor regularly writes for TIR Massage Stone, the leading hot stone massage supplies provider. They carry such products oYtl as hot stone massage kit and basalt stones, as well as many other many other accessories for hot stone therapy.