How does a massage therapist tell?

[Wretched Bonsai]

I just had a massage and the therapist said it's very obvious that my body has a lot of toxins which were released through the massage. I looked at my skin and I can't tell. Is it for real?

 

[kdr_cmt]

I hate it when they use that word. People think it means all sorts of things it doesn't mean. What they mean when they say "toxins" is the waste product of metabolism, which is left over after the process of initiating muscle contraction. People call this a "toxin" simply because it's a substance that your body can't use and will eliminate, not because it's deadly or anything. This is what makes your muscles feel sore, stiff, achy, etc., especially after a particularly strenuous workout or stressful situation. Your circulatory carries this away in time, but massage speeds up the process of flushing the waste products out of your muscles and into your bloodstream with all the kneading and pushing being done.

That's what they're talking about. They just did a superbly bad job of communicating clearly.

 

[brendan y.]

its probably a load of poop, but maybe he/she noticed you were sweating a lot, which releases a lot of things stored in your body

 

[SkepDoc 3.0]

You've been fed a line of bull from a massage therapist from the woo woo side of the street.
Massages feel good, they help you relax and unwind. They can help with chronic pain. They do NOT detoxify you, and toxins don't ooze out of your skin after a good rubdown....maybe sweat, but if you get sweaty from a massage, you've got other problems.

 

[jflmt]

As a massage therapist I would not tell someone they released a lot of toxins during the massage. There can be a detoxifying effect but it normally is an after-effect of the massage. And yes, the toxins can be there as part of normal metabolic functions of the body, but I have also seen people who were toxic with emotions or toxic from having chemotherapy. And yes, I have seen people have emotional releases while on my massage table.

Some people can have an adverse effect to deep tissue massage which may make them feel nauseous and/or really sore afterward.

I would say the best test is to see what you feel like in 24 hours.

 

[colonelsanders33]

Sounds like they are attempting to get you to come back for more massage sessions, toxins are not visible with the naked eye and she surely didn't remove them by moving your skin around. She could just mean you have a lot of tightness in your muscles or stress in your joints however.

 

[Steve]

they are just trying to sell you more massages or other products