Unit 3 - Lesson 2: Using Cold Stones - What to Know

Learn what you need to know in order to use cold stones in your massage stone therapy practice

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Cold stones are going to always reduce inflammation. So when you’re working with somebody who has inflammation you want to bring that cold stone in to that body part and allow that body to absorb the inflammation from the cold to help start reducing that inflammation. So if somebody does computer work or they’re a massage therapist or they’re some type of a mechanic or a builder they’re going to work a lot. Their forearms are going to hurt. They are going to work a lot in this area. Their muscles are going to overwork in this area so you want to start with anconeus, that muscle there, in the digitorums and just get the inflammation moved out.

 

You always go really slow with a cold stone. The slower you go with a cold stone the more beneficial it is. It’s the opposite with the hot. You have to go pretty quick with the hot stone. Where with the cold stone you have the luxury of pausing and allowing the body to absorb the temperature so it can move out the inflammation.

 

This stone would also work really well in this part of the body for those people that have those shoulder challenges to bring it in to the pectoralis major muscles and let it just reduce the inflammation in that muscle. And again, when it’s cold, you’re going to pause it, hold it, breathe with your client and let the body absorb that temperature. The slower you go with cold the better it’s going to be. If you go fast with the cold stone the client’s going to not like it because it’s going to stimulate the nervous system and the body’s going to feel it’s at threat for frostbite. You go slow enough with a cold stone, the body understands its therapeutic response.

 

Same with the leg. If somebody’s having challenges with their quads you can start that cold stone, and again when you start a cold stone on the body you don’t move it. Initially when that cold stone touches that body it has to just stop, where it’s the exact opposite for a hot stone. And once it starts to not be really cold then you can move that stone and work on those quads. Or, you could work on that IT Ban. And again, I can’t stress it enough, the slower you go with cold the more therapeutic response you’re going to have, the better result for your client. In this position you can even strip the gastrop with that cold stone, starting at Achilles tendon, the insertion of it, and just go really slow. The slower you go the better the benefit for the client. The more they can tolerate it. This stone will work on the feet too. Then it does nicely to let it rest there.