Why Do You Have to Drink Water After a Massage?

Great article worth a share.  The Question - Why do you have to drink water after a massage?

The Scientist: Michele Naumann Carlstrom, licensed massage therapist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York

The Answer: If you’ve ever gotten a massage, whether at a spa, a sports medicine facility, or a kiosk at the airport, chances are that your masseuse instructed you to drink a lot of water when you got home (or wherever your travels may have taken you). The reasons for this are twofold.

First off, massages are dehydrating. Kneading and working muscle gets fluid pumping out of the soft tissue and into your circulatory system, where it heads toward your kidneys. That’s why many people have to pee right after a massage. You have to replenish all that lost water—by drinking more.

Then there’s the issue of metabolic waste, which is produced by muscles in the course of everyday function. When your muscles are tight or you’ve got a major knot, it constricts circulation in those areas, inhibiting the body’s ability to flush out this waste. And, since tight muscles are probably what prompted you to make a massage appointment in the first place, chances are you’ve got some compromised circulation happening. Massage relaxes the tension, releasing the circulatory pathways and allowing nitrogenous metabolic waste to dump into the system. Drinking provides your kidneys with the water they need to effectively eliminate the newly liberated waste.

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Article source: youbeauty.com

What is a Hot Stone Massage?

Don't Get Burned With This Warming Treatment

Hot stone massage uses heated basalt stones to soothe and relax.

Specialty massage where the therapist uses smooth, heated stones, either as an extension of their own hands, or by placing them on the body while they massage other parts of the body. The heat can be both deeply relaxing and help warm up tight muscles so the therapist can work more deeply, more quickly. 


Hot stones warmed by fire were used by Native Americans to treat aching muscles, but the modern revival of hot stones in massage is generally credited to Mary Nelson, a native of Tucson, Arizona. She trademarked her style of hot stone massage, called LaStone Therapy, which has a Native American spiritual component and requires training and certification. 

Most spas offer their own versions of hot stone massage (they might call it lava stone massage, river rock massage, warm stone massage and so on.) A hot stone massage, however, takes a lot of skill and sensitivity on the part of the therapist. 

What Happens During a Hot Stone Massage?

Before you arrive, the massage therapist sanitizes the stones and heats them in bath of 120 to 150 degree water. The stones themselves are usually basalt, a black volcanic rock that absorbs and retains heat well, and have been smoothed by natural forces in the river or sea. 

You usually start face down, with the therapist working on your back. First, the therapist warms up the body with traditional Swedish massage, then massages you while holding a heated stone. As the stone cools, the therapist replaces it with another. The therapist uses many stones of various shapes and sizes -- big ones on the big muscles, smaller ones on smaller muscles. 

The therapist might also leave heated stones in specific points along your spine, in the palms of your hand, on your belly, or even between your toes to improve the flow of energy in your body. Many therapists believe that the stones themselves have an energetic charge and that needs to be maintained by placing them in a spiral pattern, placing them in a full moon periodically. 

Be sure to speak up if the stones are too warm or the pressure too intense. And you can always ask them to stop using the stones if you don't like how it feels.

Who Shouldn't Get Hot Stone Massage?? 

Hot Stone massage is not appropriate if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or are on medication that thins your blood. You shouldn't get a hot stone massage if you are pregnant or have a sunburn. You also may want to reconsider if you are menopausal, as it may trigger a hot flash.

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Swedish Massage vs. Deep Tissue Massage

Swedish or Deep Tissue Massage: Which is Right for You?

Massage has become an increasingly popular way for people to relieve tension and enjoy a relaxing retreat from life's otherwise stressful activities. Massage can be an enjoyable experience for those who benefit from it, and it is also a great way to improve energy and motivation at work and at home.

But what type of massage should you get? If you go to a typical, legitimate massage spa or clinic, you will find scores of options on their list of services, some of which are obvious and others that are equally obscure. The two most popular types of massage (excluding sports injury related massage) are Swedish massage and Deep Tissue massage. So which will be of the most benefit to you?

First of all, massage should be a relaxing, enjoyable experience. If you try a particular type that causes pain or makes you uncomfortable, switch to something else until you find what works for you. Different people experience different reactions to massage, so it shouldn't worry you if a treatment your friend recommended just isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Swedish massage was developed in 1812 by a Swedish physiologist named Henri Peter Ling, who worked at the University of Stockholm. He wanted to create a relaxing form of massage that would increase circulation, ease tension and improve flexibility in patients.

Swedish massage incorporates five individual techniques, which are used together to create the maximum effect and benefit: long, smooth strokes; careful kneading of individual muscles; friction; hacking (tapping); and consistent vibration.

A common technique called "draping" is used in Swedish massage, which means that most of the body is covered by a sheet during the massage, and the sheet is moved as the massage therapist moves to a new section of the body. Swedish massage is meant to be a quiet, relaxing experience, and therapists often play soft music in the background while administering the massage.
Reasons to request a Swedish Massage:

1. You have poor circulation, and you wish to improve it. The long, gentle strokes help to open circulation and increase blood flow to the extremities.

2. You are stressed about work or home life. Swedish massage is intended for relaxation and comfort, and will help to relieve stressors that affect you on a daily basis.

3. You have sensitive skin. Swedish massage is very gently, and will not abrade the skin or the muscles. It is not intended to "work out" kinks and knots, but to soothe them.

Deep Tissue massage is designed to relieve severe tension in the muscles of the neck and back and in the connective tissue, called fascia. It is called "deep tissue" massage because it is aimed at the muscles located below the surface of the top muscles, and will invariably work out hard knots or adhesions that exist in those muscles.

Many of the same techniques used in Swedish massage are also implemented in Deep Tissue massage, but the pressure is usually more intense and focused. Rather than massaging the entire neck and back, Deep Tissue massage will usually be focused on problem areas and stiff muscles.

Deep Tissue massage is great for people who sit or stand in one position all day or who engage in physical activity on a regular basis. Muscles tend to compensate for one another, which can create an imbalance in the muscular structure of the body. Deep Tissue massage serves to ease the tension in over-compensating muscles and to alleviate stress on particular muscle groups.

Many people mistakenly believe that Deep Tissue massage should hurt, and that if the therapist applies more pressure, pain will be instantly relieved. In reality, Deep Tissue massage should not hurt, though it might be uncomfortable in comparison to Swedish massage. Massage therapists will always encourage you to say something if the pressure becomes to much to handle.
Reasons to request Deep Tissue Massage:

1. You experience chronic pain in a particular muscle group. This usually means that the muscles are over-compensating, and Deep Tissue massage can serve to overcome that.

2. You are consistently involved in heavy physical activity. Deep Tissue massage is designed to relieve tension and aches in muscles that might be overworked or strained.

3. You have sustained prior injuries that are still bothering you. Deep Tissue massage will help to promote the mending of those muscles and to work out any kinks or knots that have formed as a result of that injury.

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