Monday, April 30, 2007

Kava Kava Massage Oil / Good for therapist and client


Kava Kava massage oil, an ingenious idea I got from Jim McDonald. It gives you this wonderful tingling warming sensation, and the muscles respond wonderfully to it. I practice medical massage so I had not had the chance to use oil that often (in this type of massage very little if any lubricant is used) However, Lomi Lomi has become a recent interest of mine as well as everyone likes the occasional plain old relaxation massage. The one thing I have noticed about this oil since I have been using it more, not only does the client love it, but my hands feel GREAT after using it! Light, Warm, & magical! This is something to take note of considering most LMT's get sore wrists and hands. I suspect this oil along with some do it yourself deep tissue & soft tissue release technique on the forearm would be a great preventative for carpal tunnel sydrome. Do this exercise daily, place your thumb of your other hand near the top (proximal) of your forearm (the one that is sore) palpate until you find the area that is just between your two arm bones (radius and ulna) on the top of your arm, press firmly, rotate the wrist and hand of the arm you are pressing on back and forth (from right to left palm down) Continue to move down your arm (proximal to distal) with your thumb applying pressure & rotating your hand. After the exercise, liberally massage with the kava kava oil. This exercise is great for hands and arms that are sore from typing as well. This deep tissue move will get the muscles to release, easing the pressure on the nerves that are causing the pain sensation.

To make

I make mine with dry or fresh kava kava roots.
I made some in Johoba oil or Jim Suggests:
almond (75%) and sesame (25%) oils, infused for a couple days
in a slow cooker or double boiler.

3 comments:

jim mcdonald said...

well... I got the ingenious idea from rob montgomery, who used to run the botanical preservation corps (just to pass along credit).

It is a damn nice oil, eh?

Anonymous said...

Hi Angie,

I'm a massage therapist and that sounds wonderful to my sore forearms!

I've wondered though, about infusing oil-does heating it up like that not make it go rancid?

Do you store it in the fridge after?

many thanks,
Zan

Angie Goodloe LMT, Herbalist said...

Have not had a problem with it, I use it up pretty fast so I am not sure how long it would take if it did go rancid. Don't refrigerate. Hope this helps!