One massage therapist in Midtown is using CBD oil for massaging his clients. Gene Elliott, who has owned Calming Influence on Cooper Street for 12 years and has been doing massage therapy for 26 years, recently began offering this option to his clients.
Gene says they have seen benefits from CBD oil including reduced inflammation, reduced pain, better sleep, and mood improvements. Gene used to take ibuprofen every couple of days. After using CBD products, he is now only taking ibuprofen every couple of weeks.
“There are a plethora of other claims. It’s crazy out there with CBD, but this is what I’m seeing with my clients,” he says.
With the passing of the 2014 Farm Bill, CBD became legal. Gene began researching various CBD companies and educating himself.
“I had to step back and give myself a CBD primer,” he says.
When choosing a CBD company to work with, he wanted to make sure the company was taking the necessary steps to ensure the highest quality CBD. He chose to work with LabCanna, based in Nashville. LabCanna controls the plant from seed to product. The company uses CO2 extraction instead of heating the oils, which, from Gene’s research, is the cleanest way to get the oil out of the plant. LabCanna also does third-party testing, which is important since the CBD industry is not regulated.
“Companies on the up and up will send each batch to a third party to sample it for potency, content, and consistency,” Gene says.
So far, clients at Calming Influence have embraced CBD massages and reported back good results. In addition to Gene, there are five other massage therapists and one esthetician at Calming Influence, and the esthetician also uses CBD oil for facials.
“We’re in the education process. People are curious about it. It’s in their face all the time,” he says.
Gene tries to keep the oils as pure as possible. He makes his own batches from isolate based on LabCanna’s recommendations on dosage. The oil is unscented and only contains CBD and coconut oil.
“That’s a basic philosophy of mine is to keep it simple and keep it pure. I’m not trying to make it fancy,” Gene explains.
Calming Influence works with a lot of athletes either pre- or post-race. Gene says that it is great to receive a massage after an event because of built-up lactic acid.
“Getting a massage really helps push out lactic acid and reduce the pain and inflammation from a race. It speeds up the healing process after an event,” he says.
Clients can add CBD oils to any service at Calming Influence. Gene also sells a line of CBD products, both in pure isolate form and full spectrum.
“I encourage people to be educated and really get a product that works for them.”
Calming Influence is located at 74 North Cooper in Midtown.
Calminfluence.com
