| La Stone Therapy utilizes hot and cold stones to treat muscle stiffness and soreness as well as balance a clients energy. Smooth basalt stones of various sizes and shapes are heated to varying temperatures up to 140 degrees fahrenheit and applied to the clients body to help relieve tension and open energy pathways that run the body. Cold stones are also used over different energy points. These stones are typically made of sedimentary rock and are smoothed down as well. They maintain the coolness better than the basalt, as it too maintains heat better.
Stones are placed in various lines and locations on the body in order to encourage blood perfusion through the muscles and open any blockages. When used opposite of each other the hot and cold stones have been found to assist in the healing process of injured muscles. The cold sedimentary stones help manage inflamation by moving blood away from the vasculature directly below the application site while hot stones encourage the blood into the tissue redistributing oxygen from the blood stream. The oxygen molecule is off loaded from the hemoglobin to tiny venuols that stem from veins.
Although there is some lymph work by the therapist, generally La Stone is considered more of an energy work than an actual massage therapy. Techniques can be learned by a therapist that can be offered in conjunction with other modalities that will make a little practice seem like a spa experience. Heating and cooling devices can be purchased or improvised but an accurate method of measuring temperature is essential to effectiveness and safety for both the therapist as well as the client.
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