Although massage stone therapy has increased in popularity in recent years, history will reveal that therapy using stones has been around for hundreds of years in some cultures. Chinese, Hawaiian and Native American cultures are some of the first people to utilize stone massage as a therapeutic tool and there original practices have influenced how modern day masseuses perform hot stone massages and other techniques of stone therapy.

Research reveals that the ancient Chinese who had practiced stone therapy used stones of various shapes and sizes to treat illnesses and diseases. They utilized various methods of heating the stones before applying them to patients in order to intensify the effects of the treatment. In Native American culture, heated stones were generally used in the lower abdominal region to relieve muscular pains and cramps.

However, the Hawaiian natives have perhaps had the most influence on modern day hot stone massage as a result of how they used to go about doing their stone therapy. Traditionally, the Hawaiians would wrap very hot stones in leaves that were known to have healing and therapeutic properties. The stones wrapped in leaves would then be placed on sore muscles to help to reduce the pain. Another Hawaiian technique involved placing heated stones in shallow pits long and wide enough for a human being to lie in. The stones would then be covered with therapeutic leaves, and the patient would then lie on top of them and get the positive effects of the leaves as the heat from the stones allowed them to infuse the body. The combination of heat and medicine from the leaves produced excellent healing and therapeutic results.

In the United States, hot stone massage and other forms of stone therapy were rediscovered in 1993. Ever since that time when a massage therapist discovered the benefits of using hot stones for muscular soreness and aches, hot stone therapy has taken America and the greater European countries by storm. It has become so popular that there are now several techniques that exist which employ the same basic hot massage rules and techniques.

Now, a hot stone massage will usually consist of heated stones being placed on the client’s body at different points, depending on the condition or where the soreness of muscles is occurring. While these stones start to activate the areas that they are placed on, the massage therapist will use other heated stones to start massaging other areas of the body. The heat from the stones is released deep into the muscles, which greatly enhances the massage experience. Cold stones also form an integral part of massage stone therapy, as they work well on pressure points.

Most massage parlors and spas in countries around the world have started to see the benefits of massage stone therapy, as it allows their clients to experience the deep level of relaxation found with normal massages, without the therapist experiencing too much physical strain on the fingers, hands and shoulders, which usually occurs when they do a traditional massage.

Author Bio: Sara Ryan regularly writes for AML Stone Source, the leading hot stone massage supplies provider. They carry such products as hot stones, as well as many other many other accessories for hot stone therapy.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: hot stones