Enhance Your Clients' Circulation with Topicals
The guiding principle of all bodywork types is increasing circulation throughout the body’s tissues. For massage therapists, a prime illustration of integrative medicine is purposefully choosing an herbal topical application to use for a massage session. Discover what topicals best match and enhance the principles directing your own work.
By Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.
The last ten years has brought great advancements to the healthcare industry. Due to medical research’s undeniable and reproducible results, many allopathic physicians now study and recommend various complementary therapies to patients. The increased acceptance of integrated medicine will lead patients to receive a single, customized treatment employing more than one modality. Massage therapists and other health practitioners who wish to learn and practice multiple modalities will lead this evolution of healing.
Guiding Principles
The primary principles directing massage therapists is analogous to many other healthcare professions. Differing only in the tools used and the tissues affected, bodyworkers of all kinds – including chiropractors, acupuncturists, osteopaths and physical therapists – generally practice according to the following guiding principles:
• Enhance circulation
• Foster relaxation
• Increase flexibility and range of motion
• Decrease inflammation
Once these healthcare professionals all recognize these shared principles, then medical breakthroughs will follow.
Integration
When cleaning a dirty floor, the best results occur from a combined approach, consisting of dusting, mopping and maybe even waxing. In this example, simply vacuuming up any loose debris could be considered the bare minimum when it comes to actual cleanliness. Similar to solving any challenge, people suffering from a certain malady typically experience a quicker resolution when the challenge is approached from more than one perspective. It is this premise that the value of integrative medicine rests.
Topicals
Techniques such as effleurage, percussion, acupressure and neuromuscular therapy all increase circulation. Combining this style of work with an herbal topical preparation whose purpose is also to enhance circulation instantly magnifies the therapeutic aim of the treatment.
Many natural herbs contain circulation-enhancing properties. Aromatherapists and herbalists are just two of the professions familiar with the substances that can be used topically to create this effect. In addition to matching the client’s needs, there are several factors to consider when choosing the ideal topical preparation:
1. Skin sensitivity: Be aware of any skin sensitivity for your chosen product. Some ingredients may irritate the skin, while others may render it photosensitive.
2. Ease of use: Having a topical preparation already prepared and conveniently dispensable will save the therapist time and effort.
3. Residue presence: Applications that rub in completely, are greaseless and non-staining are preferable for both therapists and clients. These characteristics prevent interrupting the practitioner’s tactile maneuverability due to slippage, ruining clients’ clothing and making clients’ skin oily.
4. Balanced formula: While each herbal ingredient has unique therapeutic properties, striking the right balance is critical for optimal results. Excessive amounts of one herb may be overly stimulating, especially without the presence of a different herb to offset it.
Trusted Choice
Taking the above factors into consideration, the Institute has searched far and wide for the topical preparations educated massage professionals seek. Herbal Heat and Herbal Ice are two formulations derived from Ayurvedic medicine’s rich herbal knowledge base. Both of these topical preparations are in an easy-to-use gel form, do not leave any residue, are not oily and consist of expertly balanced formulas.
Herbal Heat is a blend of eucalyptus (an excellent carrier to enhance skin absorption), wintergreen (reduces inflammation), clove and ginger (both of which block pain signals and increase muscular circulation). Without causing skin discomfort typical of a topical promoting blood flow, this gel relaxes and warms muscles while effectively enhancing circulation.
Herbal Ice is a blend of menthol (a cooling agent), cinnamon (an invigorating agent) and tea tree oil (a tissue healing enhancement agent), to assist with the reduction of muscle inflammation. This particular formula is helpful to clients suffering from an inflammatory response or those enduring vigorous and deep massage.
Choosing the right topical products contributes to the motion towards integrative medicine. Using a gel such as Herbal Ice on a client who recently incurred a soft tissue injury will assist your efforts in reducing muscle inflammation and encouraging healing. Using Herbal Heat on a person with chronic muscular pain will magnify the effectiveness of your massage strokes to enhance blood circulation and reduce pain. Herbal Heat and Herbal Ice are just two examples of well-designed topical preparations ideal for incorporating into massage therapy.
Practitioners of various healing methods are discovering the value to their practice and clients when drawing on tools within their legal scope of practice, yet outside their normal routine. Combining the effectiveness of massage therapy with the knowledge of herbal topical applications will lead your work into the next realm of integrative medicine.
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