Of course it's nice to offer a glass of water after a massage treatment, and some people do feel thirsty, but what about the often claimed "Toxins" that supposedly build up? Why is this crazy myth so persistent in the massage world?


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How many massage therapists are still out there telling their clients that massage gets rid of toxins in the body? On any given day on Facebook, I see about half dozen people at least making that claim … Would you maaahnd [sic] sharing with us exactly how that happens?
— Laura Allen, Massage Therapist

Yes, that we want to know as well. 

Are we talking about lead poisoning here? Pesticides? What chemicals? Dihydrogen monoxide? Magnesium sulfate? 
Or maybe food additives? Preservatives? What?

There are certainly plenty of toxins in our food and our environment, but do you think that massage can get rid of toxins for you? 

In all my time looking after clients nobody has ever phoned me to book a massage appointment to flush out toxins- most people come for massage to us because they have pains or restricted movement, or maybe they feel stressed and tired or have headaches but I have yet to meet someone that wanted to come in to flush out toxins. :-)

So I guess when Massage therapists talk about toxins they mean metabolic waste products within the body. 
But they are not just nasty chemicals pooped out by cells that just hang around, stuck in tissue, waiting for your friendly neighbourhood massage therapist to come along and flush them away.
There is no evidence that Massage will release any kind of toxins into the blood stream and on top of that drinking a glass of water or two extra will have no impact on increasing blood volume and flushing things out. 

Regular massage treatments are certainly great for so many things, but I highly doubt that "flushing out toxins" is one of them.

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