Hot Stones Massage is the manipulation of the muscles and soft tissues using hands, elbows, and forearms. There are a variety of massages available to help with general aches and pains, using a range of techniques and oils. The practice of stone therapy or stone massage was present in many cultures around the world. The type of stone therapy that is now most prevalent in Western massage treatments is most likely derived from China. There are historical accounts confirming that the Chinese used heated stones more than 2,000 years ago as a means of improving the function of internal organs. Similarly, there are records of stones used in folklore and religious ceremonies, with the intention to heal ailments in regions as diverse as the Americas, Africa, Europe, Egypt, and India.

As well as practices resembling modern stone massage, which involved laying stones at specific points on the body, there were other applications of stone, including the wearing of stones as ornaments that ensured health and protection. The practice of Hot Stone massage was originally used amongst the Hindu’s in India, approximately 5000 years ago, in their traditional, Ayurvedic practices. The massage techniques involve the use of heated volcanic stones, alongside the use of hands, arms, and elbows to massage the muscles. Spanish folk healers called curanderas used heated stones to relieve period pain and cold stones to slow bleeding after childbirth.

There are also examples in certain cultures in which women attempted to gain strength through stones by clutching them during labour. Stone massage was present in Ancient Greece and Rome. Stone massage treatments were used in conjunction with Roman baths where the benefits of stone massage were combined with hot immersion baths and the cooling effects of marble stone and cold pools.

The arrival of stone massage therapy in the modern West was revitalised by Mary Nelson, in 1993, when heated stone techniques became popular. This is the basis of modern hot stone massage. The full-body, hot-stone massage has evolved to include deep tissue-specific work, hot-stone facials, hot-stone pedicures and manicures, and hot-stone meridian therapy. Because of their incredible energy, stones are used in reiki, polarity therapy and cranial sacral work. Since then, it has become widespread around the globe once more. The full-body, hot-stone massage is frequently combined with other modern massage techniques such as Swedish massage and deep tissue massage.