Clay/Mud/Seaweed Wraps
(Add $10.00 onto the cost of the massage selected.)
A body wrap in a spa is more likely to be treatment where you’re slathered with a body mask made of algae, seaweed, mud, clay, lotion or cream, then wrapped for 20 minutes to keep you warm. Later the product is rinsed off. The body wrap usually ends with an application of lotion. This body wrap treatment is sometimes called a body cocoon or body mask.
What Happens During A Body Wrap?
Often a body wrap begins with exfoliation through dry brushing or a salt scrub. You lie down on whatever you will eventually be wrapped in – often plastic or mylar, but sometimes towels or sheets. Once the product is on, you’re wrapped to stay warm, usually for 20 minutes. When the time is up, you’re unwrapped and the body mask has to come off. You can then jump in a shower, when clean you can then dry off, and there’s an application of lotion to moisturize your skin.
Benefits:
Sea Weed wrap:
*Detoxifying your body and for giving the body a firmer, sleeker appearance
* Contain sea salt, amino acids and vitamins that are beneficial for good skin health
*The minerals in seaweed are absorbed into the skin, and this causes a breakdown of fat deposits
*Heat that is generated helps to redistribute the fat deposits, with the appearance of less cellulite and a slim, smooth appearance,
*Carbohydrates in seaweed can stimulate the healing ability of the skin
*Vitamin A in seaweed is an antioxidant that normalizes skin cells
* Hydrate and re-mineralize the skin, making it feel soft, smooth and toned
Clay or Mud:
*Improves cell metabolism
*Provides nutrient rich nourishment on a cellular level
*Eliminates toxins
*Leaves the skin nourished and deeply hydrated
*Improves the texture and firmness of the skin
*Absorbs excess fluids from the skin
*Warmth improves circulation and relieves aches and joint pain
Dry Brushing
(Add $5.00 onto the cost of the massage selected.)
Skin brushing – also called dry body brushing -- is a simple technique that stimulates blood and lymph flow, exfoliates the skin and encourages new cell growth. Dry brushing helps control cellulite by bringing nutrients and oxygen to the outer layer of skin (the epidermis).
As the client you will lay on a massage table covered with a towel or sheet. You are draped with a sheet, and only the part the therapist is working on is exposed. As you lay on your stomach, the therapist will dry brush gently over your skin. The abrasiveness of the brush removes the dead skin cells and stimulates circulation. Then you turn over and the therapist works the other side. If they rub too hard, be sure to let them know.
When the therapist is finished a massage is done with soothing and moisturizing lotion.
Benefits:
Stimulates circulation to skin and body
Stimulates nerves
Regulates uneven temperature distribution
Keeps skin firm and youthful
Exfoliates dead skin
Hot/Cold Packs (Has to be done at my office)
(Done at the same time as massage)
Cold therapies
Cold is used mostly during the acute phase of injury—within 24 to 48 hours—but it can be used anytime there is injury, inflammation, small superficial burns or muscle spasm.
Cold can take many forms: cold packs, ice cubes, crushed ice compresses, cold cloths and ice baths.
When cold therapy is used, the blood vessels narrow and blood flow decreases, resulting in reduced swelling. Skin temperature goes down as well, leading to a numbing or analgesic effect that helps control pain. Cold therapy can also be used after exercise to prevent or reduce pain and swelling or to ease muscle spasms.
Hot therapies
Heat is used mostly in sub-acute and chronic conditions—after 48 hours—to decrease pain and spasm, promote healing, increase joint mobility and heal bruising.
Like cold, heat can be applied in several ways, including electric pads, hot water bottles, hot gel packs or via a warm bath.
Heat dilates blood vessels and increases blood flow, delivering oxygen and nutrients to cells, which helps with the removal of cell waste and promotes healing. Therapeutic heat should be avoided in the acute phase of an injury when swelling is present and the skin is hot to touch. Hot therapy also plays a role in pain management and a reduction of muscle spasms, muscle tension and joint stiffness.
Hot therapy can also be used prior to exercise to decrease muscle tension and increase flexibility and range of motion.
Benefits:
Hot:
Relaxing/decreases muscle spasms
Increases circulation
Decreases muscle guarding
Cold:
Decrease circulation/swelling
Paraffin Wax (Has to be done at my office)
(Add $10.00 onto the cost of the massage selected.)
Paraffin wax treatments are luxurious spa treatments that are intended to moisturize and soften the skin. Paraffin wax treatments are most often applied to the hands, feet, and limbs. Paraffin wax is a softer wax because of the paraffin oil component. Because it is a soft wax, it melts at a lower than normal temperature. This means that the skin can be submerged in the wax without causing burning or blistering.
During paraffin wax treatments, therapists have their clients dip their hands or feet into the melted wax one or more times to coat the skin in a generous layer. The hands or feet are then wrapped in plastic, or some other non-absorbent material and left to "soak" in the layer of wax for up to 30 minutes.
Paraffin wax treatments are particular popular in the winter because they are warming and because they help moisturize dry and cracked skin. During paraffin wax treatments, the skin is bathed in warmth, which helps the pores to open and the skin to soften. Once the skin has been allowed to soak in the wax and the layer has hardened, it can be pulled off in one solid piece. Because the wax is soft and contains oil, it does not become very stiff and does not adhere to the skin. Rather, after a paraffin wax treatment, the skin is left slick and soft. A massage is to follow.
Benefits:
Deep heat
Arthritic/stiff joints
Bursitis
Tenosynovitis and tendinitis
Salt/Sugar Scrub
(Add $10.00 onto the cost of the massage selected.)
A salt scrub's primary purpose is to exfoliate your skin, removing the outermost layer of dead skin cells and leaving your skin softer and smoother. A salt scrub is followed by a shower and an application of body cream, or lotion, leaving your skin feeling very soft and fragrant.
What Happens During a Scrub?
The scrub is generally a blend of sea salt or sugar, sweet coconut oil and some aromatic essential oil of your choice.
As the client you will lay on a massage table covered with a towel or sheet. You are draped with a sheet, and only the part of the body the therapist is working on is exposed. As you lay on your stomach, the therapist rubs the scrub gently over your skin. The abrasiveness of the scrub removes the dead skin cells. Then you turn over and the therapist exfoliates the other side. If they rub too hard, be sure to let them know.
When the therapist is finished, you will need to step into a shower to rinse off all the scrub. Don’t use soap or shower gel because you want to keep the oil and aromatics on your skin. After you dry off, the therapist applies a lotion.
Benefits:
Stimulates circulation to skin and body
Stimulates nerves
Regulates uneven temperature distribution
Keeps skin firm and youthful
Exfoliates dead skin
Ear Candling (working on class not able to do yet)
Ear candling requires the use of ear candles. Ear candles are made of cotton or linen that's wound into a cone shape, soaked in wax, and then allowed to harden.
This hollow candle is inserted through a hole in a plate specially designed to collect wax, and placed into the external ear canal. The candle is lit at the opposite end. Proponents of ear candling claim that this creates a low-level vacuum that draws ear wax and other debris out of the ear and into the hollow candle. After the procedure, a dark, waxy substance is usually left in the stub of the candle.
Many people find it to be a satisfying procedure, because they are told that the dark waxy mass they see is a combination of ear wax and debris.
Proponents of ear candling claim that it can help to remove ear wax and debris from the ear and facial sinuses. The external ear canal, however, is not continuous with the middle ear, sinuses, Eustachian tube, and nasal passages when the ear drum (tympanic membrane) is normal and intact.
Other manufacturers claim that smoke from the burning candles dries out the ear canal and stimulates the body's natural excretion of wax and dead cells, pollen, mold, parasites, and other debris. There is no evidence supporting these claims.