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I first started to get professional massages and dry skin brushing over 25 years ago. I was living an extremely stressful, toxic lifestyle at the time with lots of business travel, eating out nearly every meal, and a rush-rush manner of living pretty much all the time. It seemed glamorous and exciting for about a year or two. After that point, it gradually became an unbearable grind.
I compensated for this very unhealthy lifestyle by working out way too much (aerobically, no less, which is not the healthiest way to exercise) and getting full-body massages every two weeks to de-stress and detoxify.
During one particular session, the massage therapist commented that I was toxic. She wasn’t talking about my muscles being tight. She had actually detected toxins in my skin during the massage.
Curious, I asked her how could she tell. She explained that she could feel tiny toxic crystals underneath my skin.
She then showed me the method by rolling the skin up my back. I nearly jumped off the table it hurt so much! It felt like she was forcibly peeling my skin away from the underlying tissue. In other words, the skin did not separate easily from the muscle and tissue underneath – there was some sort of “stickiness” that seemed like the skin had adhesive on it from the inside! This “stickiness” on the underside of the skin and the lack of ready separation from the underlying muscle/tissue as the skin is rolled up the back is what indicates toxic buildup.
Rolling the skin up the back should normally feel very pleasurable and be pain-free. If there is toxic buildup, however, rolling the skin in this manner is quite painful and slow. The feeling of the toxic stickiness as your skin and muscle tissue are separated is rather like a piece of tape being pulled off cardboard and gives the unpleasant sensation of running your fingernails across a chalkboard.
Want to try it? Are you game to check and see how toxic you are?
If so, lay down on a couch or bed like you are going to get a back massage and have a loved one try the following on you:
The “Am I Toxic?” Test
Gather up a piece of skin between both thumbs and forefingers and roll it in a wave from the base of the spine near the tailbone all the way up to the neck.
Repeat several times starting from a different place on the lower back each time until the entire back has been rolled. About 5-6 complete rolls is all you need.
If you feel any pain as this exercise is being performed, then you have toxicity issues. If it has to be done slowly, there are toxicity issues. Normally, the skin should effortlessly roll up your back and the test can be performed in less that a minute or two. The more pain and discomfort and the slower this takes, however, the more toxicity.
Sometimes, rolling the skin may hurt at the base of the spine and up by the neck but not toward the middle of the back. In this case, there are toxicity issues, but not everywhere.
When this test was first performed on me, it hurt everywhere and I could barely tolerate the pain. I am happy to say that today, this test can be done quickly and I find that it feels wonderful. There is no pain or discomfort whatsoever!
If you decide to try this test out and find that you are quite toxic, take heart and know that this can be completely reversed! A diet of traditional, whole foods is all that is necessary to accomplish this under normal circumstances.
Your body knows how to cleanse itself!
You don’t need to force anything or go on sketchy cayenne pepper, maple syrup, lemon juice and water fast, aka Master Cleanse, which unduly stresses the body. Just eat traditional, whole foods and cut out the junk and the process of cleansing will naturally occur. Be sure to consume plenty of healthy, nourishing fats. Some gentle detoxification bathing will help too without unduly taxing your system.
I would suggest Epsom salt baths and/or vinegar baths as the best overall types.
Don’t be in such a hurry to cleanse yourself with harmful fasts and other forcible herbal cleanses. It took you a long time to get so toxic, it will take some time to undo the damage. Doing it quickly and forcing the issue can do more harm than good.
If you absolutely feel that you must cleanse at a faster rate, try this instead. Drink fresh, raw veggie juice. It is a proven way to gently detoxify according to Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride MD. The best way to drink your juice (it MUST be fresh and use veggies that are safe to consume RAW) is on an empty stomach. No food for at least 30 minutes after drinking the juice and no food for 2 hours before.
Those of you that try this test, what did you discover about your toxicity load? Are you going to make any changes to your eating habits or lifestyle based on what you discover? Why or why not?
Toxicity is not the only one reason for discomfort or tightness for this technique (called Myofacial release.) I have used this technique in my OT practice and it’s primarily used to release adhesions in the underlying tissues. Adhesions can form from an injury or just poor mobility in a certain area. Certainly it makes sense that toxins would be release while performing MFR as toxins are often released during any number of manual techniques, however pain or tightness are not symptoms of toxicity- but of adhesions. Also a lay person should receive instruction from a licensed professional before performing this technique because depending on specific situation within the person’s body….care may need to be taken when manipulating the skin in this way. See an occupational therapist or licensed massage therapist for an individualized treatment plan. 🙂
A video is worth a thousand words. This is difficult to visualize. Can you show us a video of this?
I am also a massage therapist with nutritional expertise, (and a yogi) and painful massage could and would absolutley indicate a toxic load, even before any other diagnosis is made
I don’t know if I am just confused or if I am so toxic that I can’t properly perform this. I am having trouble grabbing any skin at the base of my spine to even begin the exercise. Am I doing something wrong?
You are not supposed to do this on yourself, the article says at the beginning, “Want to try it? Are you game to check and see how toxic you are? If so, lay down on a couch or bed like you are going to get a back massage and have a loved one try the following on you” This is for one person to do to another, not for you to do to yourself. Hope this clarifies things.
Not a good test for as I have ankylosing spondylitis (spine very painful 24/7) & that would hurt a great deal. I do eat healthy though… Grass fed meats, all organic, no sugar or gluten & take Standard Brand supplements. Is there another way to test besides the spine area?
My experience of massage is that at the beginning it does make my skin red and a bit sore but many sessions later the same massage does not create any redness or soreness. If it’s just to do with vessel dilation the surely it would would be just as red each time? I felt that it was healing me over time in some way.
Hi BMardock,
Thanks so much for sharing your expertise! Yes, it is so important for those who may have never gotten a massage before to make sure to respect their own personal pain threshold, though, I must admit, I go way past mine most of the time!!! My choice, however, not the massage therapists.
Hi Sarah, I added the comments about redness because of the comments/questions above. I added the comment about bruising because clients I have had come to my practice have had other experiences with other massage therapists that have caused bruising, or have worked with them beyond the clients pain thresh hold. I wanted others to understand that you as a client are in charge to deal with as much change in a session as you can handle not what a therapist might want for you. It was just added knowledge.
I love learning from you and read as much as I can about your health suggestions.
BMardock
Hi B.Mardock, I didn't say anything about redness or bruising in the article. Also, I did my best to describe the process as it was showed to me by my massage therapist. Please remember that this was 20 years ago and no doubt massage techniques have changed or improved since then. The basic method as you describe is the same as what I talked about in the post, however. Thank you for taking a moment to clarify!