Suffering from stretch tight or twisted muscles, and worst still physical injuries that needs to be immediately attended to? What about those persistent feelings of sadness that can lead to serious stress-related health problems like depression?
A one of its kind of CBD-infused medical massage therapy – which proved to be effective in treating or preventing a range of physical and psychological conditions – has found its home at the newly opened AltBeauty medical aesthetic studio, situated at the Central Square Sandton, Johannesburg
The beauty clinic, which looks prestige with an unpretentious and friendly calming aura of tranquility about it, is already blazing a trail ahead of its competitors by becoming the first in South Africa to offer the breakthrough massage treatment to its patients.
Offering a wide range of world-class treatments such as vampire facials, micro-needling, dermal fillers, vitamin IV drips and PRP therapy (including the revolutionary O-Shot), the practice is spearheaded by Dr Nicole Kanaris, founder of the internationally award-winning Med Aesthetique in Edenvale, East of Johannesburg.
What does AltBeauty CBD massage entails?
Dr Kanaris is constantly expanding the boundaries of aesthetic practice in South Africa, and true to form is surrounded and supported by a talented and caring team of 4 medically trained therapists – physiotherapist, biokineticist, sport scientist and advance skincare therapist – who were on hand at the official opening of the practice early this month (March 1 and 2) to administer the country’s first CBD-infused medical massage to a select members of the media, including yours truly (NOWinSA editor Tankiso Komane).
As expected, on this day the topic centered mainly around the CBD massage, and as Dr Kanaris explained below, the treatment is three part-based:
- One – it’s coming from a CBD product that is professionally and reliably sourced.
- Two – it’s put together by the correct people and applied the right way. People that are reality grounded … at the least you’ll know the skill sets of the therapists, and that the people treating you have a great understanding of your body.
- Lastly – it’s done in a centre where your health and wellness is of primary concern – and prioritising you as a patient.
“So when you walk in there your health is the most important thing – not as a client but as a patient,” Dr Kanaris.
CBD medical massage – who is it for?
As Dr Kanaris further pointed put, it’s not only physically active or sports people looking to enhance performance and reduce the risk of injury that would find it immensely beneficial. “The housewife at home with a baby on her back, who works very hard everyday needs and deserves this medical massage treatment.”
She adds: “It’s not only so she can relieve stress, but be assured that it’s safe, and wouldn’t have to worry about any worrying after effects. She can go back and attend to her kids, and drive them around the same afternoon.”
In the words of renowned South African TV personality, Chris Jaftha, you could be a fitness guru, ‘a couch potato’ or a corporate professional. So it’s essentially for anybody and everyone who needs relaxation and some sort of relief from different ailments in their body.
CBD ‘stony’ effect concern debunked
A big concern for a lot of South Africans is “whenever the word ‘CBD” is mentioned they immediately think of marijuana, which is not the case here as it doesn’t contain THC, the psychoactive chemical that creates a high,” Dr Kanaris. As such this CBD-infused treatment allows you to be calm and focus on the most important things – without the presumed side effects like slow thoughts (reduced reaction time), the euphoria or high associated with marijuana.
Likewise, many of the brand advocates – including Chris Jaftha, DJ and 5FM presenter Kyle Cassim, influencer Belinda Gwala, entertainer and podcaster Taryn Louch, as well as fitness instructor Mika Stefano – and select media professionals who attended the venue’s grand opening early this month (March) used these exact words: “relaxed”, “calm” and “chilled”.
With Chris in particular, it was these specific choice of words which really stood out for us: “ultimate relaxation”, “self healing” and “improved flexibility”. The massage provided a heightened sense of flexibility and mobility which he never felt before, he said.
“Even though I didn’t have any crazy energies before, it feels like my body healed itself from whatever it needed.”
“I am more flexible now than I was before going into the message, ” he said while swinging his left leg back and forth – as he jovially chatted with Dr Kanaris – to signal the increased range of movement / motion in his joints.
How the CBD skincare concept came about?
No one is offering CBD massages in a medical space. We are essentially the first aesthetic practice in South Africa to formally do so
Dr. Nicole Kanaris
“We wanted to enter the CBD space from the aesthetic point of view, and as you know CBD has potent anti-inflammatory benefits for skincare, which is what we’re doing at the moment and have subsequently just launched a new range of products in this regard,” Dr Kanaris said.
As a doctor in the wellness space, everything Dr Kanaris does revolves around helping boost her patients’ confidence by making them look and feel their best. But now with Covid-19 forcing us to limit physical activity, which has a detrimental effect on our mental well-being, it goes without saying that a healthy massage with good anti-inflammatory effects will go a long in helping people distress.
“Coming from a stress-related point of view you’ll know that things like anxiety, depression and divorce – as any psychiatrists would tell you – are on the rise. In medical aesthetic we find that a lot of patients are grinding and clenching their teeth due to either sleep disorders, lifestyle factors or stress and anxiety.
“It is the same thing with our muscles. You’ll see people with good postures starting to droop down or hunched over. They are not feeling themselves or opening themselves up to the world.”
According to stress management experts, posture communicates how you feel about yourself and how open you are to others. And this is where AltBeauty’s custom medical massages come in handy; to get you back on track, motivated and feeling good.
Reception since opening?
Dr Kanaris: “The reception has been great. We’ve had a lot of social media enquiries about our massages, people from different gyms and fitness centers are asking about them because it is something different. No one is offering CBD massages in a medical space. We are essentially the first aesthetic clinic in South Africa to formally do so.”
Interestingly, there’s been a lot of talks and interest around the ‘collagen cbd’ martni (shot), which was specially prepared for guests on the day. For those not familiar with the latest trends and wonders pertaining to this magic plant, CBD-infused collagen cocktails are now a thing for those looking for health maintenance on the go.
Lucky for me, not only was I privileged to be one of their first patients to get to experience the bespoke CBD medical massage. I also got the taste of the indulging shot (a mixture of the expertly developed Gold Collagen liquid supplement and CBD) – as part of the treat to prep us up for what was to come. Man, oh man, what a bliss!
“I would have thought that people will say ‘oh no no no’ – but to my surprise every single person who came wanted to try it. And these are people who wouldn’t normally think of consuming or ingesting CBD – either in a drink or food form – and for us that really goes to show the trust in our brand.”
*AltBeauty is looking to become a dominant force in the health and wellness industry with their new line of CBD infused products. Keep an eye on our exclusive coverage / future updates on some of the innovative treatments and products from this proudly South African brand.
