Massage For Your Skin

By Julie Kennedy, CMT

After a dry winter like we have had in the Northern Virginia area, many people are suffering from dry skin. There is a lot of advice out there about how to take care of your dry skin, much of it contradictory. Hot showers or cold showers, long showers or short showers. But there's one thing we can all agree on, the products you use on your skin make a huge difference.

Your skin is not only one of your largest organs, it is also the gateway to your body. It is mostly water proof, so when you take a bath, the water from your bath does not enter your body. However, most of the products you use on your body are absorbed into your body via the skin. If this were not true, patch medications such as those used in weaning off nicotine, narcotics for pain relief, and birth control, would not be effective.

Massage is beneficial to the skin for two reasons. First, the physical act of massaging brings blood flow to the skin, which helps repair damage. Secondly, the product used by your massage therapist can help nurture your skin. Even if you moisturize every day, there are places you cannot reach and you probably do not spend the time to work the product into your skin.

The first few strokes of a massage on any area are to apply the oil or crme to allow the therapist to massage the area without painful friction. As the therapist works, the lubricant is often absorbed into the skin and, especially during the winter, the therapist may need to reapply. You should leave a massage with your skin feeling hydrated, but not greasy.

If you have any allergies, a gluten sensitivity, or are otherwise careful about what you consume, you should be similarly careful about what you put on your body. When you get a massage, make sure you know what the therapist is using on you to make sure it fits in with your health and environmental plans and goals.

Massage can help you achieve the skin you always wanted.