Medical Spa: A Treatment and Relaxation Space

By Maria E Schmidt

A medical spa is a place to relax, decompress and detach from the stresses and pressures of daily life. Visitors usually enjoy massages, hydrotherapy, skin treatments and other aesthetic solutions. It can be a place of respite, but it also serves as a conduit to healing and medical treatment, as clinical professionals can determine the cause of pain and physical difficulty of their patients, and help find solutions.

History of the Medical Spa 

In the late 1980s, the idea of a medical spa came into the forefront with the advent of alpha hydroxyl acids and the original Collagen injectable. The idea of performing minor medical procedures in an environment most people used as a place of relaxation and rejuvenation was compelling. It was also noted that, while patients often delay important treatments due to the stress of being in a traditional clinic or doctor's office, their fears were often allayed in a more comfortable space like a spa.

Spas also hearken back to the ancient Greek and Roman times, when bathing in natural waters was considered both therapeutic and sacred treatment to purify the mind, body and spirit. In fact, the word spa can be traced to the Latin term, sanitas per aqua, which means health through water. It also has ties to the Walloon word "espa," which means fountain.

The Modern Day Medical Spa

Some of the treatments that are performed in a modern day medical spa include anti-wrinkle injections, Botox, chemical peels and laser treatments. Some spa health professionals also conduct breast implant operations, perform chin, face, brow and eyelid lifts, and even tummy tucks.

Only skilled and licensed professionals are qualified to tend to patients. It is crucial to do some research before visiting any spa. You want to be sure that the facilities are well-maintained, clean and up to code. Most importantly, a medical spa should be licensed. Not all regions require spas to have a license, but it's best to visit the ones that do.

One of the best ways to research a medical spa is to look them up online and read their reviews. Also, if you know anyone who has been a patient, it would be useful to ask them about their experience. As a prospective patient, you should feel free to ask as many questions as you wish about procedures you may be unsure of. Any health care practitioner should be forthcoming and helpful, and you should definitely take into consideration how attentive the medical staff is to your needs and concerns.

Medical Spa Benefits

Many people visit a medical spa for aesthetic procedures like Botox injections, facial rejuvenation and laser treatments - all of which are alternatives for more invasive techniques like face-lifts or other forms of plastic surgery. The recovery time is also a lot shorter.

Another benefit of frequenting a spa is that patients often report that they have a more natural look, compared to others who have undergone traditional surgery.

And possibly the best benefit of all is the fact that whatever service you choose to get, you're most likely going to leave feeling better about your appearance and your health.

Ultimately, you should keep in mind that the medical spa experience is all about one person: you! As such, you should feel comfortable, safe and inspired by your choice. If you feel intimidated or that you aren't treated like a "VIP" then that's probably a sign that you should look elsewhere.

View the list of services offered by a Medical Spa.
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IN PAIN? SPINAL REFLEX THERAPY COULD WORK FOR YOU

As a massage therapist, I am very familiar with many kinds of bodywork modalities and what concerns or conditions each modality most effectively addresses.  There are many, many different schools of training that follow different approaches and beliefs as to how pain arises and how it can most effectively be treated.  Despite our similarities, we all respond to varying treatments differently; some therapies and medications may work for one person and may not work on another – and bodywork is no exception.

One of our therapists on staff, Sonya, specializes in Spinal Reflex Therapy (SRT). I have never had a session of SRT, but I’ve heard so much about it! So I took the opportunity this week to tap Sonya for her knowledge and to share it with all of you.  If you’ve been having difficulty with an injury or chronic pain of any kind and other methods haven’t been working for you, it may be worth coming to see her and finding out if SRT is appropriate for you.

Spinal Reflex Therapy is based on the idea that the most common root cause of any bodily pain and dysfunction is Spondylogenic Reflex Syndrome (SRS).  SRS is, in a nutshell, a Spinal Reflex Therapist’s explanation for your body’s attempt to protect itself from trauma caused by stress, poor posture, unhealthy diet, injury, etc.  To further simplify, the ways that our body tries to shield itself from trauma can actually be causing our pain.

As an example, let’s pretend that you broke your right ankle. Now you wear a big boot on that foot, and you’re also now using crutches.  Despite the crutches, you’ll probably be using your left leg and foot a lot more in order to help your body distribute the weight between your crutches and your armpits – our armpits were never meant to carry our entire body weight.  As a result, your left side may get achy in your low back and hip. Your shoulders may also get sore from this new compensation pattern.  Eventually you get your boot off, begin physical therapy, and get back to using your newly healed foot: however, you may have been left with muscle spasm, joint strain, and fatigue from the stress of using your body in a way that it hasn’t been accustomed to.

Your therapist will initially perform a very brief postural evaluation while you are still clothed at the beginning of your session.  Based on his or her analysis of your spine and the type of injury you need to be treated for, he/she will release the affected muscles in a particular order.  When your muscles are released, they will send chemical messages to your brain to release natural opiates and other signals for your body to relax and heal.  Once this happens, you should experience a reduction in your symptoms and your health and pain should improve – all without drugs or surgery.  SRT is a modality recommended for adults or children who are experiencing back or back-related pain and treats a variety of issues such as: soft tissue fibrosis, trigger points, fatigue, muscle spasm, degenerative arthritis, pinched nerves, or chronic back, shoulder, or neck pain among many others.  As an integrative health provider, any method of working with and encouraging the body’s natural healing processes is something we can really get behind.  Have any of you out there had SRT?  How did it work for you?  We’d love to hear about your experience!

-Original Post by Erin Fenton, NCBTMB