Let’s talk about heavy metals, and I don’t mean heavy metal bands. Did you know wearing deodorant and antiperspirant adds heavy metals to your body? Sure, it keeps others around you from smelling you before they see you, but it’s not good to have heavy metals in contact with your body. Antiperspirants try to stop our bodies from sweating by using aluminum. Many people may not know that antiperspirants are actually an over-the-counter (OTC) drug that is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Antiperspirants are drugs because they change the function of the body by blocking pores from sweating with aluminum. The human body can absorb the aluminum through the skin quite easily, and aluminum is a neurotoxin. Any substance that can cause damage to nerve tissue and or nerves is a neurotoxin. You can do your own research online about aluminum in the body and see everything it can affect.
Aluminum and other heavy metals are one of the many factors that can contribute to blockage in your lymphatic system. What is the lymphatic system? The lymphatic system picks up waste and fluids from the area between the cells. It then filters and cleans this waste. When that system is working well in our bodies, we have a strong defense against illnesses and we feel healthy. When the system is blocked, we feel tired, might have some swelling and are more susceptible to getting sick. There are many things that can block the system: an injury, wearing tight and restricting clothing, surgery, environmental toxins, heavy metals like aluminum, poor diet, lack of exercise and hormonal imbalances to name a few. By opening and freeing vessel passageways with a lymphatic massage at A Valley of Vitality Wellness Studio, we can help to retain the lymphatic system to work better for you with this gentle form of bodywork. Such a massage can help to clear the blockages and sluggish tissues of waste, helping your system to be restored to functioning fully and regaining defenses against illness by improving your immune system function and feeling better.
Lymphatic drainage massage is a holistic approach to promoting a healthy lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is a complex network of vessels and ducts that move fluid throughout the body and is responsible for moving toxins away from healthy cells and carrying germ fighting materials to cells where they are under attack by viruses. Though fluid moves through the lymphatic system, it does not have its own pumping mechanism. Lymphatic drainage is a type of therapy that is intended to help the body produce a free-flowing lymphatic system. If you have been feeling sluggish and low on energy or if you feel your body is fighting not to get sick, a lymphatic massage would serve you well. Ask your therapist about how it might help you.
While many go to great lengths to avoid it, sweating actually has many important healthy and beauty-related benefits. Your skin is the largest organ of your body and serves important roles, just like any other bodily organ.
Sweating helps your body:
- Maintain proper temperature and keep you from overheating.
- Clean the pores, which will help eliminate blackheads and acne.
- Expels toxins to support proper immune function and help prevent diseases related to toxic overload.
- Helps improve blood circulation.
- Kills viruses and bacteria that cannot survive in temperatures above 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Helps relieve stress and promote relaxation.
Another way to get heavy metals out of your body is with a Far Infrared Sauna. The Far Infrared Sauna operates at the optimal 9.4-micron range, which gives the most benefit to your body. At 9.4 microns, it dilates blood vessels and capillaries providing an increased flow of rich oxygenated blood to muscles and joints, reducing muscle spasms, promoting healing of injured and sore muscle fibers, improving flow in the lymphatic system to reduce swelling and inflammation, and the sweating helps to pull the heavy metals from your body. The rays can penetrate up to two inches below the surface. The rays are completely safe and are used in hospitals to warm newborn babies.
The sauna we use at A Valley of Vitality Wellness Studio is deeply relaxing with clinically proven health benefits and is a medical grade, FDA-approved sauna. The sauna helps relieve stress and chronic fatigue and burns as much as 400-700 calories per session. Some individuals may find it difficult to sweat, which may attribute to a heavy metal buildup in the body. Adding the sauna before a massage also helps to get more effect from the massage by loosening the muscles. QCBN
By Amanda Barnett
Amanda Barnett is the owner of A Valley of Vitality.
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