Health and Beauty: Stone Therapy

Grasscroft’s Liz Norbury, from the Hair and Beauty Therapies department of Oldham College, teams up with Jane Hatton, a Beauty Therapy Level 3 Course Tutor, to look at Stone Therapy.

STONE THERAPY Massage has become a popular spa treatment within the Beauty Therapy industry and we are delighted to offer it at Oldham College.

A history of Stone Therapy:

• The modern treatment was founded in Arizona in 1993 by Mary Nelson but has been traditionally used for practical and healing purposes by many cultures for thousands of years
• Women used to place warmed stone on their stomachs to ease menstrual pain, and another method was to place at the foot of the bed to warm the feet
• Native American Indians used stones for healing; they choose volcanic stones as these retained their heat the longest
• In America cowboys used heated stones from the fire placed under their bedding.
• Japanese priest wore sashes and when fasting placed warm stones which would help slow the digestive process
• Scandinavian countries used heated coals on a stove in the sauna then taking cold shower or going out in the snow
• In Russia it is traditional to line the bottom of the bath with smooth flat stones and then lie on them
• Roman baths involve bathing in hot water then lying on cool marble slabs
• Mayan Indians used the stones to tell them what illness a person has and the treatment to aid them back to health
• China used the heated stones to relieve tired muscles

Hot stones are heated in a stone therapy heater while cold stones are cooled in a cool bag or cool box.

The Stones:

• Used for centuries and thought to be as old as Incas, Shang Dynasty & Egyptian pyramids
• The stones used in the treatment all originate from mother earth
• Normally basalt stones are used hot & marble or marine stones for cold

Some students have argued that due to the cost of these specialised stones could they not just take them from the beach but, apart from being illegal to take anything from a beach, they do not tend to hold heat as well.

Why Stone Therapy?

• Apart from being a fabulous treatment for the whole of the body, it has been created to create balance and harmony for the therapist as well as the client
• Some clients have commented it allows the therapist to work at a deeper level, incorporating both hot and cold with pleasing results
• From a therapist point of view, easy to use and also allows a deep massage with little effort and less pressure on the hands
• Can be used alone or incorporated with other treatments, i.e. reflexology, pedicures, facials, aromatherapy, Indian head massage, sport therapy massage or Swedish body massage.

Benefits & effects of the Hot Stones:

• Powerful energies of the stones promote a sedative effect to the body
• Increase of blood flow to the area where the stones are placed
• A deeper massage can be performed
• Due to this increase of blood to the area it has a flushing effect and there is an increase in flexibility to the connective tissue, allowing for relaxation

Benefits & effects of the Cold Stones:

• De-congestive effect on specific areas and can be used to treat specific areas
• Help to de-sensitise and sooth
• Removal of heat from areas
• Alternating with hot will help to balance the circulation
• Reduces inflammation
• Too much heat can be too overpowering for some clients so by working with both a balance can be achieved