Massage Oil

[mujuro]

Hello all,

I'm currently doing a tertiary massage course and unfortunately the first hurdle to pass is the soft, utterly pointless "Swedish" massage techniques. It involves a lot of oil. They use almond oil but I'm free to bring my own type of oil on the grounds of irritation or allergy. I was suspicious of the almond oil after I started getting dandruff soon after starting the course. I managed to go a few weeks without any exposure, however yesterday we had a practical exam in which I was covered in the stuff. Sure enough, this morning I awoke with aching joints, absolutely zero energy and just general sh## moods.

I was going to skip coconut oil and go straight for MCTs. Since my clinic phase is coming up (40 massages at 50min each) I'm going to be topically absorbing a lot of this junk.

 

[Waynish]

Always used straight up refined coconut oil when giving massages and it always worked out great. They say PUFA is bad for skincare, but I don't know how much they really get absorbed - or why jojoba oil makes many people's skin so nice...

 

[800mRepeats]

Interesting.
I've recently faced similar concerns as I started making my own hair pomade. Recipe calls for jojoba, shea butter, and beeswax - and it works great! However, I'm concerned about topical absorption of the jojoba and shea butter.
Jojoba is primarily 11-Eicosenoic acid aka gondoic acid (C20:1).
Shea butter is made up of oleic acid (40-60%), stearic acid (20-50%), linoleic acid (3-11%), palmitic acid (2-9%), linolenic acid (<1%) and arachidic acid (<1%).

Although this pomade is likely preferable to the commercial products with plasticizers and other horrors, I'd hate to think I'm undoing all my work with a low-PUFA diet.

Made another batch substituting coconut oil for the jojoba and shea butter, but it's nowhere near as good.

 

[Giraffe]

I use olive oil.

 

[whodathunkit]

MCT's may be too thin and "break down" too easily under the friction of Swedish massage. I had my massage license for over a decade (still consider myself a massage therapist to some extent, since the knowledge learned is never unlearned), and found, like @Waynish, that refined coconut oil worked fine. I also like olive oil as suggested by @Giraffe, but even with a nice essential oil blend IME those can leave you smelling vaguely like a salad, so usually went for the coconut oil. I do like OO on my skin but I found I had to be careful when I used it because of the after-smell.

I also liked cocoa butter mixed with coconut oil. It has to be melted (low temp) and whisked together but it's a nice moisturizing blend. Good for the skin with a subtle chocolatey under-smell to whatever EO's you choose to use. :)

 

[Queequeg]

Hello all,

I'm currently doing a tertiary massage course and unfortunately the first hurdle to pass is the soft, utterly pointless "Swedish" massage techniques. It involves a lot of oil. They use almond oil but I'm free to bring my own type of oil on the grounds of irritation or allergy. I was suspicious of the almond oil after I started getting dandruff soon after starting the course. I managed to go a few weeks without any exposure, however yesterday we had a practical exam in which I was covered in the stuff. Sure enough, this morning I awoke with aching joints, absolutely zero energy and just general sh## moods.

I was going to skip coconut oil and go straight for MCTs. Since my clinic phase is coming up (40 massages at 50min each) I'm going to be topically absorbing a lot of this junk.

Why is Swedish Massage pointless? I find it to be my favorite.

 

[whodathunkit]

Why is Swedish Massage pointless? I find it to be my favorite.

Swedish massage feels good in the moment but it's really hard to correct structural problems or effect lasting therapeutic changes with it. Not impossible, and particularly if the problem is transient, Swedish can be beneficial. But other modalities like neuromuscular or myofascial release, etc., are much more effective for actually correcting chronic or difficult structural problems.

Calling Swedish "pointless" is categorically incorrect unless you unwisely discount the benefits of deep relaxation, improved circulation, and effects like that. But from the therapist's point of view we like to fix people, not just make them feel good. You typically don't get the "Wow, you fixed it and it's been bothering me for two years!!!" reactions from clients if you solely use Swedish techniques.

 

[tara]

I also liked cocoa butter mixed with coconut oil. It has to be melted (low temp) and whisked together but it's a nice moisturizing blend.

+1
And if you want it a little softer you could mix in just a little olive oil to make it easier to spread.
I find straight coconut oil very pleasant but a bit drying on the skin if I use a lot of it by itself.
(I'm not doing lots of massage, but thinking about what I'd like as a client.)

 

[mujuro]

Wow thank you everyone. That's a lot of options to tinker with, I'll get straight on to it. I'll test them on the wife :)

@Queequeg I was being hyperbolic when I said it was pointless. Swedish does have it's applications, but for what I'm getting in to - mostly working on functional issues i.e. athletes - it has little therapeutic benefit. It is relaxing though.

 

[Queequeg]

Swedish massage feels good in the moment but it's really hard to correct structural problems or effect lasting therapeutic changes with it. Not impossible, and particularly if the problem is transient, Swedish can be beneficial. But other modalities like neuromuscular or myofascial release, etc., are much more effective for actually correcting chronic or difficult structural problems.

Calling Swedish "pointless" is categorically incorrect unless you unwisely discount the benefits of deep relaxation, improved circulation, and effects like that. But from the therapist's point of view we like to fix people, not just make them feel good. You typically don't get the "Wow, you fixed it and it's been bothering me for two years!!!" reactions from clients if you solely use Swedish techniques.

Wow thank you everyone. That's a lot of options to tinker with, I'll get straight on to it. I'll test them on the wife :)

@Queequeg I was being hyperbolic when I said it was pointless. Swedish does have it's applications, but for what I'm getting in to - mostly working on functional issues i.e. athletes - it has little therapeutic benefit. It is relaxing though.

got it. thanks. I had a girl walk all over my back once in Asia. That wasn't very relaxing but I am sure it had its purpose as well.