What to do with irritation after a massage?

This question arises not only among those who engage in self-massage. Cosmetologists who actively use facial massage in their practice often face the problem of acne appearing after a massage.

In September 2020, I conducted a super useful webinar on self-facial massage, where, among other issues, I discussed this topic in detail.

If clogged pores or pimples appear after a massage, I suggest you the following algorithm of action.

Wash thoroughly after facial massage
Use massage gel
Slow down
Rashes don't just come from massage.

Wash thoroughly after facial massage

If you started practicing facial massage and then notice rashes, first of all pay attention to cleansing.

The instructions for a massage cream often indicate that after a massage it is enough to blot off the excess product with a napkin.

But this can be done in cases where we are talking about a light facial massage for 3-5 minutes. Essentially, this is a situation where you apply the required amount of cream or cream mask that does not require rinsing to your face and lightly massage the skin so that the product is better absorbed.

If we are talking about a full massage, when the session lasts 10-20 minutes or more, the situation is different.

Firstly, we take quite a lot of cosmetics, even too much.
Secondly, for 10-20 minutes we actively massage the skin using a massage product. Naturally, in such cases, the cream can cause clogging of the pores.
Plus, don’t forget that peeling occurs during the massage. We exfoliate dead cells and after the session all this remains on the skin.

Therefore, I recommend always washing your face thoroughly after a facial massage.

How to properly wash your face after a massage

If we are talking about dry or aged skin 40+ or 50+, when there is no tendency to clog pores, it is enough to wet your fingers with warm water and massage your face well for 1 minute.

The massage cream will turn into milk and it will be enough to simply wash with water.

This is what I usually do.

If you are prone to breakouts or clogged pores, be sure to wash your face with a cleanser - foam or gel.

By the way, one of the most common mistakes when cleansing your face is applying foam for just 15-20 seconds. After which the person washes off the foam in the hope that the facial skin is well cleansed. But that's not true!

The fact is that gentle cleansers work not only delicately, but also slowly and a few seconds are definitely not enough to cleanse the skin. It is necessary to massage the skin of the face with foam for a minute. And in some cases it is worth repeating the procedure twice.

By the way, I wrote about this mistake in my book “55 Mistakes in Facial Care.”

Treatment of the rash

Pimples that appear on the skin after a massage require proper treatment, especially if they occur in the middle of the course of procedures. After all, it is not recommended to continue sessions until the inflammatory process is stopped. Regardless of where the rash appears, you should:

Pay special attention to hygiene, shower regularly, but do not rub the affected skin with a washcloth.
Wear clothes made from natural fabrics.
Do not touch acne again.
Drink more clean water.
Stick to a healthy diet.

If the rash is accompanied by itching, you can take antihistamines in the dosage prescribed in the instructions to relieve it. In such a situation, it is important to inform the massage therapist about a possible allergic reaction.

Under no circumstances should you pick pimples that appear on the skin. This is fraught with the development of serious inflammatory processes and the spread of infection to a large area of the body.

On the face

To treat rashes on the face that appear after a massage, you can use various cosmetic and pharmaceutical products:

Available zinc or zinc-salicylic ointment. You can also use zinc powder - Tsindol and a solution of salicylic acid. All these medications should be applied only pointwise.
Ichthyol ointment or Vishnevsky ointment. Such products are ideal for eliminating deep subcutaneous acne.
Popular products like Skinoren and Baziron.
Preparations with antibacterial components Zinerit, Klenzit S.

Treatment of acne on the face through massage is no different from the treatment of ordinary acne. Most often, skin defects disappear in just a few days, or at most weeks, with proper therapy.

On the back and legs

Coping with rashes on the back and legs is somewhat easier than dealing with rashes on the face. After all, when treating such pimples, there is no need to rush, since they are located on not the most noticeable areas of the body. In addition, the skin in such places is not so sensitive and is not prone to irritation. To remove rashes, you can:

Take baths with added sea salt.
Use body washes with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide.
Use available tar soap.
Apply iodine to small pimples.
Wipe the skin with Chlorhexidine, an inexpensive and effective antiseptic, a couple of times a day.

A combination of several means is allowed. In particular, you can shower with tar soap and then treat your skin with benzoyl peroxide lotion or salicylic acid toner. It is also possible to apply spot-on zinc or salicylic-zinc ointment, as well as Vishnevsky ointment.

Therapy in a child

It is worth noting that rashes after a massage in children are not uncommon. Of course, children cannot be treated using standard “adult” remedies. The following can help:

Baths. A banal light pink solution of potassium permanganate can be an excellent find. But at the same time, parents need to be very careful so that tiny undissolved crystals of potassium permanganate do not get into the water. It is also quite possible to prepare baths with herbal decoctions; chamomile and string, as well as oak bark, have a beneficial effect on the skin. You need to prepare the decoctions in accordance with the instructions on the box, and then add the resulting product to the prepared bath.
Cream Bepanten. This product will be a great help if your baby’s skin is dry and a rough rash appears on it. Bepanten is based on dexpanthenol (one of the forms of vitamin B5), it moisturizes and nourishes the skin well, and also promotes active regeneration.
Zelenka. Sometimes it can be used to precisely lubricate pimples.
Fenistil gel. If the rash occurs as an allergic reaction to a massage product, you can precisely apply this antiallergic drug to the pimples. Of course, in the future you need to carry out massages without an allergenic substance.

When treating rashes in children, you must make sure that the rash appeared precisely from the massage. After all, such a skin reaction can be the result of allergies to cosmetics, food and detergents, as well as a symptom of many unpleasant diseases.

Use massage gel

If you wash your face thoroughly after self-massage, but still get rashes, try changing your massage product.

Oils or creams that contain a high percentage of lipids contribute to clogging of pores.

Switch to gel.

For example, you can use a gel moisturizing mask for massage. The main thing is that the gel is sufficiently dense, jelly-like and gives good glide.

For long-term gliding, you can periodically wet your fingertips in water.

Self-massage of the face “Renaissance”, technique #2 – “Waterfall”

How dangerous is this?

Acne on the face and body can cause psychological trauma in schoolchildren and adolescents. Complex treatment and adequate procedures (for severe acne) should be selected and supervised by a doctor. You will need both oral medications (antibiotics, retinoids, isotretinoin) and local treatment.

Pimples often cause itching and even pain. The infectious and inflammatory process in the tissues is accompanied by purulent pimples with cloudy exudate inside. Pimples on the body with swelling and redness of the surrounding tissues, affecting deeper layers in addition to the epidermis, are fraught with the spread of infection throughout the body.

We suggest you familiarize yourself with Ivory skin color

Slow down

If you thoroughly cleanse your skin, if you have already switched to gel, but after a massage you still get rashes, I advise you to slow down a little.

Even on an intensive course, massage once a week. The fact is that during self-massage we activate all processes, including the work of the sebaceous glands.

This is good for aging or aging skin - when sebum secretion is reduced, activation of the sebaceous glands will be beneficial.

If we are dealing with young skin, with normal or increased sebum secretion, frequent massage sessions can contribute to increased sebum production, clogged pores and the appearance of acne.

Messages [ 12 ]

1 Topic from Botsvinyuk Irina 12/14/2012 09:09:48

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Topic: Rash on face after massage

Dear cosmetologists. Help me to understand. After the fifth or sixth massage (especially after lymphatic drainage), some clients experience rashes on their face. The massage cream is non-comedogenic, I wash it off after the massage. Who has encountered this?

2 Reply from Tatyana Bocharova 01/06/2013 18:22:37

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Re: Rash on face after massage

Irina! What type of rash appears? How often do you encounter this? And best of all, change the massage oil, perhaps it’s just an allergy.

3 Reply from Irina Botsvinyuk 01/06/2013 19:57:34

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Re: Rash on face after massage

Single rashes (papules, pustules) precisely in the projections on the skin of large lymph nodes (parotid, chin, submandibular). And specifically for clients who had not previously taken care of themselves at all, that is, they did not even have full-fledged home care. Well-groomed women do not have this. I think that the accumulation of toxins is brought to the surface by the stimulation of the massage. By the way, those women who begin to take care of themselves. visit a cosmetologist plus home care - for them it goes away after some time.

4 Reply from Tatyana Bocharova 01/07/2013 14:36:13

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Re: Rash on face after massage

Somehow it seems to me that these clients experienced rashes there even without your massage. This is confirmed by the fact that after regular visits to the cosmetologist everything goes away.

5 Reply from Mazur Irena 01/07/2013 15:43:39

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Re: Rash on face after massage

I read on one massage forum that the appearance of tubercles after lymphatic drainage massage in adult clients (over 30 years old) is considered one of the indicators of the correctness of the massage. a good lymphatic drainage technique will begin to accelerate the movement of lymph, and the appearance of tubercles is stagnation of lymph. I personally observed such tubercles once - immediately after the massage, subcutaneous formations appeared in the places of large lymph nodes - quite dense. They went away on their own in about 15 minutes. So IRINA , in your case, I also think the massage provoked something that had stagnated in the lymph nodes to come to the surface.

This is interesting: Why do painful pimples appear on the chin?

6 Reply from Tatyana Bocharova 01/07/2013 15:52:06

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Re: Rash on face after massage

Bugoki and papules, pustules are different things, Irena. After a well-done massage (therapeutic, mind you), sputum rejection, chills and, sometimes, low-grade fever occur. These are indicators of the movement and release of waste from the body through the blood, then they come out with liquid. (sweat, urine).

7 Reply from Mazur Irena 01/07/2013 16:17:52

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Re: Rash on face after massage

Tatiana, can’t one organism react with tubercles, another with chills and fever, and a third with papules and pustules - the skin is also an excretory organ?

8 Reply from Tatyana Bocharova 01/07/2013 18:27:13

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Re: Rash on face after massage

Tatiana, can’t one organism react with tubercles, another with chills and fever, and a third with papules and pustules - the skin is also an excretory organ?

Irena, FIRST: the author of the topic, Irina, writes: “And specifically for clients who had not previously taken care of themselves at all, that is, they did not even have full-fledged home care . From this I can make the assumption that clients who did not take care of themselves before could periodically have such rashes and simply “not see them”, not pay attention, as well as their appearance in general, and turn their attention to it only after the procedures . This has happened often in my practice. And not only in cosmetology. Clients who do not take care of their bodies at home are extremely picky and attentive to what happens after visiting the salon, a place where they rarely visit. The question they ask themselves is: “I haven’t seen this before. What happened in my life that I haven’t done before? I visited the beauty salon!” Answer: “Rashes as a result of massage”!

SECOND: Irina writes: “Well-groomed women don’t have this.” 1. Because these women are used to monitoring their skin condition. 2. Do you think that well-groomed ladies do not have toxins and waste in their bodies?

Rashes don't just come from massage.

If rashes appear after a massage, you need to remember that after does not mean as a result. Perhaps the massage sessions coincided with other factors. For example:

You consumed a lot of dairy products, which can contribute to clogged pores, and at the same time included facial massage in your beauty routine.
Maybe new products have appeared in care that help clog pores.
It may be due to hormonal changes in the body.

In any case, remember that rashes may not be associated with massage or errors in using facial self-massage products.

Cancel the massage for a while and see if the problem goes away?

Causes and mechanisms of dermatitis and individual rashes

There are a large number of different types of massage. It can be general or local, sports, therapeutic, cosmetic (including anti-cellulite) and hygienic. The massage can be performed by a massage therapist or two massage therapists (pairs), or independently (self-massage). In addition, it is divided into manual, hardware, pneumomassage, combined, etc. For sessions, air or water media, various massage creams and ointments, fragrant and medicinal oils, medicinal ointments, etc. can be used.

Professional massage therapists, cosmetologists, and dermatologists face the problem of skin rashes and dermatitis in general. They often find that after a massage a small rash appears on the back, stomach or thighs. There have also been cases of rashes similar to skin irritation and hyperhidrosis, even in areas of the skin remote from the affected area.

Justifications for this phenomenon are offered in a variety of ways - from quite convincing to absurd and completely unacceptable. The main ones:

detoxification and elimination of excess slagging;
allergic reaction;
mechanical urticaria;
combination of provoking factors when using honey;
the specifics of the procedure and the nature of the massage product as predisposing factors;
the presence of previous inflammatory processes of the skin and neglect of basic hygiene rules by staff and patients;
excessively frequent massage sessions for people with normal or increased secretion of the sebaceous glands. The fact is that procedures often stimulate their function, which leads to hypersecretion and clogging of the mouths of hair follicles with sebum.

The theory of detoxification and elimination of “slagging” of the body that occurs as a result of natural metabolic processes

It is based on the statements of some cosmetologists and massage therapists that after an anti-cellulite massage, as well as especially after an intensive massage in the middle and upper lateral sections of the abdomen and chest, back, skin rashes or pimples often appear in the area of the cervical, submandibular and axillary groups of the peripheral lymph nodes.

Contraindications

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By rubbing the body, the body is saturated with positive energy and health. But when a person has a severe headache after a massage, a feeling of insurmountable weakness, nausea, and drowsiness appears, then perhaps the doctor, when prescribing this method of treatment, did not take into account the contraindications:

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Phlebeurysm.
Disturbances in the functioning of the cardiac and vascular system.
Heat.
Presence of internal bleeding.
Bronchial asthma.
Mental disorders.
Infectious diseases in the acute stage.
Oncopathology.
Inflammation of the joints at the acute stage.

Masquerade under current

After cleaning, before starting the massage, the master will apply a warming mask to the face. It will begin to release heat, due to which blood flow will accelerate, and metabolic processes will start in enhanced mode. For dry and normal skin, a specialist will select a mask with fat-soluble vitamins and softening ingredients, for oily skin - a clay mask with anti-inflammatory extracts (calendula, oak, chamomile, boric and salicylic acid). Girls with aging epidermis who need a slight lifting will like preparations with hyaluronic acid, wheat proteins or collagen. By the way, sometimes, when working with women whose faces have already shown signs of aging, massage therapists resort to iontophoresis - they apply microcurrents to the skin. The discharges activate cells and push beneficial substances contained in creams into the epidermis.

What's special about this massage

Despite the fact that this knowledge came from the Ancient East, its impact has been scientifically confirmed by modern scientists. The basis of much of all Eastern medicine is that a point or area of a specific part of the body is always connected to and affects another part of the body. That is, with the correct influence on the necessary point, you can improve the functioning of the entire organ.

With a rejuvenating massage, the effect occurs on the points that stop aging. In addition to improving the appearance of the skin, after a course of Chinese massage your overall well-being changes. Those who have at least once experienced the magical effects of Chinese wisdom become regular clients of the masters of these procedures.

How Chinese massage works:

Stimulates active biological points that are located on the face,
Activates those internal processes that are responsible for rejuvenating the body and “launching the program” of self-healing,
Improves skin blood circulation,
Removes muscle spasms and tension,
Works like lymphatic drainage
Improves metabolism in tissues and microcirculation in them,
Toxins accumulated by the skin are removed,
Removes swelling
The functioning of the facial, ocular and ear nerves improves,
The natural release of elastin and collagen – the “main” anti-aging substances – increases,
Regeneration processes are accelerated.

Thanks to this reaction of the body, these massages not only give youth, but also help remove other skin defects. Therefore, it is recommended to do Chinese massage for those who want:

Remove or prevent the first age-related changes,
Reduce the appearance of wrinkles,
Tighten skin, remove jowls,
Get rid of a double chin
Eliminate ptosis,
Make stretch marks, scars and healed tissue invisible,
Get rid of puffiness, bags under the eyes and bluish circles,
Remove acne
Eliminate skin pigmentation.

All these defects are corrected by the Chinese facial rejuvenation technique. The most common are the classical massage techniques using spoons, gouache, Tibetan and Taoist. However, they all have similar recommendations.

The impact of massage and its types

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There are two directions: European (it includes classical and therapeutic) and oriental massage.

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In the first case, the procedure is carried out by influencing muscle tissue to achieve a specific goal (relieving nervous excitability, relieving back pain, eliminating muscle hypotension). Eastern techniques are aimed at improving the health of the body as a whole. With their help, the hidden resources of the body are discovered, which then independently fights the disease.

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Therapeutic massage is used in complex treatment, which is prescribed for osteochondrosis, scoliosis and other problems associated with the spine. The condition of this part of the body is closely related to internal organs and systems. To normalize its functions, the muscles of the cervical region, back, and collar area are developed, after which the head may hurt.

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Relieves spasms and muscle tension.
Restores the mobility of muscle fibers.
Improves blood circulation.
Stabilizes overall health.

In Eastern practice, which is gaining popularity among Europeans, there are many types of massage. Among them are:

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Massage with guasha plates. Affects the body through the skin. It helps with joint diseases, frequent headaches, colds, cholecystitis, and calms the nervous system.
Face massage. Improves blood circulation in this area, after which the skin looks healthy and young.
Thai massage. During such a massage, the specialist kneads, stretches, and rubs the skin with his hands. After the session, the person feels relaxed and at peace. In this case, you can count on relief from pain in joints and muscles.
Lymphatic drainage massage. It has a versatile effect on the body: tones muscles, improves metabolism and blood circulation, accelerates the flow of lymph.

Massage is also useful in childhood. It eliminates many health problems, promotes child development, strengthens the immune system, normalizes sleep, and stabilizes the functioning of the digestive system.

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How to get rid of it?

Proper daily personal hygiene and skin care help prevent unwanted inflammation and rashes. You should buy soap with benzoyl peroxide at the pharmacy.

To treat rashes on hard-to-reach areas of the back, it is recommended to use medicated sprays or lotions with salicylic acid.

For personal hygiene, use products containing glycolic and lactic alpha hydroxy acids, which accelerate epithelial exfoliation, cellular metabolism and reduce the number of clogged pores. More powerful products can be used for the back, legs, chest, gentle ones - for sensitive skin of the face and neck.

To get rid of acne, the following are recommended:

medicinal lotion Lipacid (GIGI);
ichthyol mask “Solar Energy” (Solar energy mud mask);
pharmaceutical ointments Baziron, Skinoren, Zinerit.

Acne bumps quickly resolve when using a mud mask produced by Gigi Cosmetic Laboratories (Israel), which nourishes the skin with minerals and vitamins and produces an antiseptic (anti-inflammatory) effect.

Traditional medicine suggests using tar soap, taking medicinal baths based on decoctions of medicinal herbs or adding sea salt or a solution of potassium permanganate. Large, few pimples can be cauterized with iodine.

In case of serious skin rashes after a massage, you should consult a dermatologist to prevent their progression and complications. You may need to use antibiotics, antipruritic, drying, and antibacterial external agents. Taking antibiotics on your own is strictly prohibited.

Causes of dizziness

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Often, after a massage of the back or collar area, there is no pain, but you feel dizzy. This is due to:

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The body is in an awkward position during massage.
Active compression of the intervertebral artery.
Conducting a session with high blood pressure.
Perform manipulations on an empty stomach.

The effectiveness of massage

During exposure to the skin, various processes are activated:

Blood circulation improves, which leads to the activation of all metabolic processes. More nutrients are supplied, they are better absorbed, and the production of elastin and collagen is normalized.
Sagging skin gradually disappears as muscle tissue strengthens.
Excess moisture between cells is eliminated, so swelling gradually subsides.
The epidermis is constantly in excellent tone.
The facial contour acquires clearer lines.
All cells relax as tension goes away. Wrinkles are gradually smoothed out.