I recently heard of a new massage technique using hot and cold rocks place on specific "energy" areas. Has anyone heard of this?

Yup!

Ha-Ha! Let me rephrase that....

What HAVE you heard about it? Is it better than other massage techniques? Ever had a stone therapy massage? (Throwing rocks at an old boyfriend doesn't count!)

I haven't heard of it, but it does make sense, since heat and cold can affect our muscles and circulation.

Here are some sites I found about Stone Therapy:

Original Hot Stone Massage

Getting Stoned

Stone Therapy

LaStone Therapy

In case you didn't know by now I am a very literal person! LOL
OK, here goes. I wouldn't say that one form was better than the other - they really are 2 entirely different methods. In the traditional sense a massage loosens tightened muscles and ligaments through manipulation. Stone therapy is more "New Age" in my opinion and involves the placing off heated stones on various "energy" points along the body. The theory behind this is the stones act as a means of releasing energy and toxins from the muscles.
There are spas that offer this form of massage and you pay quite a bit for it. I would assume it would be more relaxing simply because heat is used...but not as effective as the traditional form.

Btw, throwing rocks at my old boyfriends....let me just visualize that image for a minute....

nah, I'd never do it!

I just had my hair cut today and heard about the stone therapy massage. The girl that I usually get my massages from was trained recently with this technique and she highly recommends it so I guess my next massage will be with the stones. She charges $40 for a 1 hr. therapeutic massage and $50 for the 1 1/2 hr. Stone massage. I understand that most of the massuses in the area charge $65 for the 1 1/2 hr stone massage. She was very enthusiastic about the massage. Good Luck!

Clare...an update for you. The other week my manicurist was talking about some courses she was taking to renew her license. She happened to mention that she took a course on Heated Stone Therapy a few years ago and OMG what rubbish it was!!! It is totally "New Age" if you're into that kinda thing. She said in the course she learned how to "cleanse & purify" the stones with special water and I think salt. THEN, you place them outside over-night and let then "Absorb" the enery from the moon and the sun. Only then can they be used on the customer. And one stone alone costs 1000 DOLLARS! I told her to dig up some rocks from the garden, pile them in the microwave for a minute, and no-one would be any wiser!