Letters From The Editors: Oh, Relax
May 1, 2005
Nancy trent is a publicist, whose company Trent & Co. specializes in
promoting spas and fitness expos. So she can be forgiven for waxing poetic (no
pun intended) about spas and how spa treatments have become so mainstream that
we no longer blink at once-intimidating terms like photorejuvenation,
radio-frequency microionization or electrodrainage.
Spas have energized the
residential bathroom thanks to chromatherapy tubs, steam showers and saunas.
And they have revolutionized the medical establishment. Medispas (the
convergence of doctors and spa therapists) and dental spas (dentists meet spa
therapists) are the wave of the medical office future. “Men are much less
intimidated by medical spas,” says Trent, “especially if their doctor
recommends a facial and a massage as a stress-reducer.” According to Trent, the
number of medispas opening around the country is outpacing day spas. And she
adds that OB-GYNs are getting into the act by offering prenatal massages. There
is even a medical spa society that acts
as an industry advisory board on ethics and practices.
At the recent Spa
& Resort/Medical Spa Expo and Conference in Los Angeles, a wave of medical
equipment and products intended for home use was on display. Among Trent’s
favorite products were the Intégrée Comfort and the Intégrée Fit, a
body-sculpting treatment from Silhouwell (www.integreeusa.com). Two matching red
sports car–like pods, which retail for $135,000, offer light- and heat-therapy
to release excess swelling, water retention and toxins while eliminating fat and
keeping body muscle.
The “SO” Sound massage chair, which sells for $3,500 to
$7,500 (www.sosoundsolutions.com),
hooks up to any sound system (your stereo or iPod, for example) and then takes
control so that you feel the rhythm through massage therapy. The company
promises that “based on years of sound therapy and vibrational medicine
research, the ‘SO’ Sound is proven to reduce stress, relieve tense muscles, heal
aching joints and re-energize the body.”
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