Drinking water after massage

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ann Dunlap on September 9, 2009 at 10:34am

Okay, now, please don't give me answers like: "the natural toxins that your body makes"; this is an answer I got from a massage school!! I need to know the specific ones. It would also be helpful to know why these products are toxic.

Permalink Reply by Megan Weyhrich on September 9, 2009 at 11:47am

I was taught in school (and continue to tell my clients) that drinking extra water after massage is to ensure that you stay hydrated and relaxed. Massage moves a lot of fluids (blood, lymph, etc) around your body and works fluids into your muscle tissue, allowing them to expand and relax. Following your massage, the extra water is needed to ensure that your body is hydrated enough to continue to provide this hightened level of fluid to your muscle tissue while still maintaining the fluid levels needed to run your vital organs.

Permalink Reply by Joan Cole on September 9, 2009 at 6:39pm

http://www.ramblemuse.com/massage_today/mt_0212.html
Courtesy of Keith Eric Grant, Ph.D.:
"There's a statement, seemingly pervasive throughout massage education and books about massage, that unspecified toxins accumulate in the body and that these toxins can be flushed out by massage. I believe that this is yet another myth that continues to be passed on as misinformation to massage students. This is not to dispute that there are very real toxins that accumulate in the body, notably including persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in fatty tissues and heavy metals in skeletal tissues [7; 8]. These, however, are too chemically bound to their target tissues to be significantly liberated by the mechanical motions of massage."
Read the whole article.
He's also got one on the myth of lactic acid

Permalink Reply by Shari Auth, LMT, L.Acu, NCBTMB on September 12, 2009 at 2:24pm

Rather than get technical about specific metabolic wastes, which isn't really our job, we aren't scientists, you could just say toxins in the air we breathe, food we eat and water we drink. Nobody can deny the pollution in the air, various preservatives and artificial ingredients in our food, and the various impurities in our water supply.

Hope this helps,
Shari

Permalink Reply by Michael on September 14, 2009 at 6:10am

For what it is worth, in my experience with NMT I have found clients re-experiencing anesthesia, nicotine, even one time an lsd type derivative when a muscle released, all client stating that it had been some time since partaking in any of the substances. As Shari mentioned, our bodies will hold on to a various assortment of "stuff" long after actual exposure. While we often will not know the specific history of any illicit substance use, other items we may be aware of through careful intake and interview of the client.

Permalink Reply by Ann Dunlap on September 22, 2009 at 7:38am

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your input. That is very useful information. I guess the same could hold true for any medication a client may be taking? I think I also heard that massage could increase the absorbtion of medications (more specificly lymph drainage)... and so have to keep that in mind.

Michael said:

For what it is worth, in my experience with NMT I have found clients re-experiencing anesthesia, nicotine, even one time an lsd type derivative when a muscle released, all client stating that it had been some time since partaking in any of the substances. As Shari mentioned, our bodies will hold on to a various assortment of "stuff" long after actual exposure. While we often will not know the specific history of any illicit substance use, other items we may be aware of through careful intake and interview of the client.

Permalink Reply by Ann Dunlap on October 5, 2009 at 7:23am

Thanks for your reply Neil. I will look up that article.

My experience on the table after an hour and a half of two people massaging me is that I feel quite thirsty. At times I start to get that feeling that I'm getting that pre-flu feeling. Then drink a liter of water and feel much better. I am curious what is going on in my body and why I feel that way. The scientific and medical community doesn't seem to have a satifactory answer to this phenomenon. Some massage therapists say it is 'toxins' or 'pollutants' which i think is a better word, that where trapped in muscles get released with massage or even energy work which is even less mechanical.
Too much lactic acid is a common cause of muscle soreness.

Permalink Reply by Joan Cole on October 6, 2009 at 5:57am

Unfortunately, the lactic acid as cause of DOMS is another false massage myth.

Ann Dunlap said:

Too much lactic acid is a common cause of muscle soreness.

Permalink Reply by akemi mckee on October 8, 2009 at 12:16am

I wish I knew how rumors get started. I have heard for what seems like ages that we are to encourage our clients to drink water after a massage to flush out toxins, too. Can I just encourage all of us to stop believing everything we hear and do some real research? I appreciate your thoughtful question.

Water in general is the world's best diluter. We drink it to ease the release of medications to our system. We drink it when we are feeling ill to sustain hydration. We drink water to benefit our bodies the most for workouts or other strenuous activity. There is nothing wrong with encouraging water intake. The misnomer is that somehow when we massage we are somehow "downloading" all kinds of toxins and must further "neutralize" them with water afterwards. Can I just say that if that were completely true then why haven't we made a fortune on being instant healers?!

Lactic acid has also been the "honorable mention" to the whole reason water is so necessary. Unless you are making your client work up a sustainable sweaty pace of cardio and/or dynamic load, I highly doubt you will be elliciting a lactic build up of any kind. Besides, it subsides quickly and doesn't stay "floundering" in the body for lengthy periods of time. Our bodies are resilient and amazing! If our bodies were innudated by poisonous secretions from a massage then we would be doing a greater harm than good, eh?! Haahaha!

In the long run, it is always good to drink more water. Tanking up on that "natural liquid gold" will improve overall body health as we are mostly water-based beings anyhow.

And while we are at it....myths, rumors, and whatnot.....If our bodies were so frail that I could start labor or spontaneously "abort" a child by massaging too briskly on the reflexology points on the feet ...wow! Seriously?! Come on...if that were really...I mean reallllllyyyy true...then we wouldn't have abortion clinics, doctors....or even birth control! Oohhhh...am I stepping on feet now?! I am not trying to make any political point. I am merely saying that our bodies are far more resilient than we give ourselves credit for.

Permalink Reply by Jessica Weagle on February 21, 2010 at 8:56am

I think that if clients are well hydrated before hand they are less likely to get sore

Permalink Reply by JB Harding, III LMT A.A.S. on September 27, 2010 at 9:58am

I like your points you make.. We do need more research.. I been reading "Job's Body", and a lot of things in there stated has lead me to believe that there are a couple of myths that we need to really rally and disband... Like drinking water and such...

akemi mckee said:

I wish I knew how rumors get started. I have heard for what seems like ages that we are to encourage our clients to drink water after a massage to flush out toxins, too. Can I just encourage all of us to stop believing everything we hear and do some real research? I appreciate your thoughtful question.

Water in general is the world's best diluter. We drink it to ease the release of medications to our system. We drink it when we are feeling ill to sustain hydration. We drink water to benefit our bodies the most for workouts or other strenuous activity. There is nothing wrong with encouraging water intake. The misnomer is that somehow when we massage we are somehow "downloading" all kinds of toxins and must further "neutralize" them with water afterwards. Can I just say that if that were completely true then why haven't we made a fortune on being instant healers?!

Lactic acid has also been the "honorable mention" to the whole reason water is so necessary. Unless you are making your client work up a sustainable sweaty pace of cardio and/or dynamic load, I highly doubt you will be elliciting a lactic build up of any kind. Besides, it subsides quickly and doesn't stay "floundering" in the body for lengthy periods of time. Our bodies are resilient and amazing! If our bodies were innudated by poisonous secretions from a massage then we would be doing a greater harm than good, eh?! Haahaha!

In the long run, it is always good to drink more water. Tanking up on that "natural liquid gold" will improve overall body health as we are mostly water-based beings anyhow.

And while we are at it....myths, rumors, and whatnot.....If our bodies were so frail that I could start labor or spontaneously "abort" a child by massaging too briskly on the reflexology points on the feet ...wow! Seriously?! Come on...if that were really...I mean reallllllyyyy true...then we wouldn't have abortion clinics, doctors....or even birth control! Oohhhh...am I stepping on feet now?! I am not trying to make any political point. I am merely saying that our bodies are far more resilient than we give ourselves credit for.