Massage Therapy Oils: Reduce Friction, Nourish skin, Heal
Why use a massage therapy oil?
Massage therapists use their thumbs, fingers, palms, hands, elbows to manipulate your soft tissues, muscles and tendons.
Massage oil is mainly used as a lubricant to reduce friction and make it easier for the therapist to slide his thumbs, fingers, hands smoothly over the skin; while using various massage techniques to relieve pain, soreness, cure existing problems and provide complete relaxation. Massage oils also nourish the skin and remove irritation.
What are the types of massage therapy oil?
Massage oils are classified as Carrier oils / Base oils and Essential oils.
Carrier Oils or Base Oils: Carrier Oils are organic vegetable oils obtained from the seeds, nuts and fruits of various plants. Vegetable oils can be easily absorbed by the skin pores. Carrier oils do not have strong aroma, do not evaporate easily.
Carrier oils are used to dilute highly concentrated essential oils and ensure that essential massage oils are absorbed well into the skin.
Select pure, virgin cold pressed Carrier oils for best results. You may use one carrier oil or a combination of more carrier oils as the massage therapy oil.
Almond Oil and Grape seed Oil are widely used massage therapy oils.
Almond Oil is extremely popular massage therapy oil. It has very little smell, is smooth, easy to apply, gets absorbed in skin easily, is rich in Vitamin D, good for all skin types, and particularly useful for hair and dry skin.
Grape seed oil is a great alternative for almond oil. It has little or no smell, is smooth, easy to apply, non-greasy, good for oily skin.
Some more very popular and effective carrier oils; each having their own beneficial properties are: sunflower oil, olive oil, wheat germ oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, rosehip oil, evening primrose, and many more.
Essential Oils or Aromatherapy Oils
Essential Oils are extracted from flowers, leaves, stems, roots, seeds, bark, resins. These oils have highly concentrated essences which have medicinal properties and are useful to treat various conditions.
Essential Oils are volatile and highly concentrated, should not be applied directly on skin. Add about 10-15 drops of essential oil to the carrier oil, mix well and then apply.
A massage using essential oils not only enhances and enriches the massage experience, but also maximizes its healing benefits. There are a large number of essential oils, each having unique healing abilities to treat specific conditions.
Lavender oil is an extensively used essential oil. It has a very soothing, calming effect. It relieves tension, headaches, stress, anxiety and insomnia. It helps improve your mood, memory, circulation, digestion,
Some more very popular essential oils are: Sandalwood, Tea Tree, Ylang-Ylang, Eucalyptus, Bergamot, Clary Sage, Geranium, Lemon, Rosemary, Chamomile, Jasmine, Rose etc.
What are the benefits of massage therapy oils?
Carrier oils act as lubricants, reduce friction, provide nourishment, remove irritation.
Used as base for essential oils and help essential oils to be absorbed into the skin easily.
Essential oils have tremendous healing capacity and are used to treat a variety of conditions such as:
Mind Related: stress, anxiety, depression, insecurity, loneliness, low self esteem, fatigue, panic attacks, poor memory, postnatal depression etc.
Body Conditions: acne, aging skin, allergies, arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, colds & flu, dandruff, dry skin, headaches, immune system, indigestion, insomnia, menopause, migraine, muscle aches, nausea, periods (heavy, irregular, painful), sciatica, stretch marks, sprains, varicose veins, wrinkles etc.
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