Stone massage has a reputation problem. Say "hot stones" and most people picture smooth river rocks laid decoratively along a back while somebody plays panpipes. That version exists. It is not what is on our menu.

Both of our stone services are working modalities. One uses heat to make deep tissue work more effective; the other uses cold to interrupt a headache pattern. They do opposite things and you should not book them interchangeably.

CoreStone deep tissue massage

CoreStone blends traditional deep tissue work with hot stone therapy, using custom-shaped, precision-heated soapstone cylinders that act as an extension of the therapist's hands.

That phrase — extension of the hands — is the key. The stones are not laid on you and left. They are held and worked with, shaped to fit specific structures: along the spine, into the shoulder, under the shoulder blade, along the forearm.

Why heat helps. Warm tissue behaves differently from cold tissue. Warmth increases local circulation, softens the resistance in muscle and fascia, and lets the nervous system stop guarding. The practical result: a therapist can reach a depth that would be uncomfortable — and counterproductive — going in cold.

The phrase we use is deep trigger point release without causing tissue trauma. Deep tissue done by force alone often leaves you sore for two days. The heat does part of the work so the pressure does not have to be brutal.

What it feels like: heavy, warm and specific. Not the diffuse pleasant warmth of decorative stone massage — you can feel exactly where the therapist is working. Most people describe it as intense but comfortable, and rate the next-day soreness lower than conventional deep tissue at equivalent depth.

Book CoreStone if: you want deep tissue work, you find conventional deep tissue borderline unpleasant, you get sore for days afterwards, you are working through long-standing tension, or you are cold-natured and never quite relax on a table in a Michigan winter.

A five-point massage pressure scale from feather-light to deep, with the services that match each levelThe Massage Pressure ScaleTell your therapist a number — it is faster than describing a feeling1FeatherLymphaticCFT2LightSwedishrelaxation3MediumSwedish +aromatherapy4FirmDeep tissueCoreStone5DeepTrigger pointmyofascialGood pressure should read as "hurts good" — you can still breathe slowly andyour shoulders stay down. Bracing, holding your breath or gripping means back off a level.

Migraine cold stone massage

This is the opposite tool for an opposite problem.

Migraine Massage targets the key muscles and trigger points commonly involved in migraines and headaches, while using cooled marble and soapstones on the face, temples and neck to reduce inflammation and help mitigate migraine symptoms.

Why cold helps here. Anyone who has reached for a cold cloth during a headache has already run the experiment. Cold applied to the head and neck causes local vasoconstriction and dampens the pain signalling that heat would amplify. Applying warmth to a pounding head makes it worse — which is why the general-purpose hot stone approach is exactly wrong for a migraine.

The session combines two things: manual work on the muscles that refer pain into the head — suboccipitals at the base of the skull, upper trapezius, the jaw and temples — and cold stone on the areas that need calming.

What it feels like: the cold on the temples and forehead is startling for about four seconds and then enormously welcome. The neck work can be tender, in the specific way that pressing on a trigger point that is causing your headache is tender.

Book Migraine Cold Stone if: you get tension headaches or migraines with a neck and shoulder component, your headaches are worse in periods of stress or heavy screen time, warmth makes your head feel worse, or you know your headaches originate somewhere below your skull.

Timing matters with migraine

Most people do better booking this between episodes, as prevention and maintenance, rather than during an acute migraine. In the middle of a bad one, light, sound and being touched at all are often intolerable. If you are mid-migraine, call and reschedule — that is not a wasted appointment, it is good sense.

Choosing between them

CoreStone (hot)Migraine (cold)
Primary goalDeep releaseCalm inflammation
StoneHeated soapstone cylindersChilled marble and soapstone
WhereBack, shoulders, limbsFace, temples, neck
PressureDeepModerate and specific
Best forChronic tightness, heavy labourHeadache and migraine patterns
Avoid ifHeat-sensitive conditionsCold triggers your headaches

Things to tell your therapist

  • Any condition affecting heat or cold sensation — neuropathy, circulatory conditions, Raynaud's. This genuinely changes what is safe.
  • Whether heat or cold helps your headaches. People differ, and the answer determines which service is right.
  • Recent injuries, and anything inflamed. Heat on acute inflammation is a bad idea.
  • Pregnancy. It changes both temperature and positioning decisions.
  • If it is too hot or too cold. Immediately, not afterwards in a review.

Both services are on the massage menu at our Houghton spa. If your neck and shoulders are the problem but you are not sure headaches are involved, the Clarity and Ease service may be the more direct answer, and Swedish versus deep tissue covers the basics if you are still deciding on pressure.