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Just Relax, People; Stressed-Out Clients Visiting Spas in Record Numbers

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 January 2005, 18:00 CST

Pampering is out.

Healing is in.

"It used to be that spas were about relaxation and beauty and pampering," said Annbeth Eschbach, who opened the Exhale spa in Boston last month. "Now the new demand is for healing modalities - body therapies that focus on moving energy in the body."

At Exhale, 15 treatment rooms offer dozens of therapies from yoga to acupuncture, reiki to Qi Gong. "Core Fusion" classes combine yoga, pilates and stretching.

"Ten years ago, you'd be going to a hair salon-based spa," said Eschbach. "That's the old mold. The new model is what we're calling the mind-body spa."

Since 1999, the U.S. spa industry has increased a staggering 290 percent, according to a report last month in the Financial Times.

In 2003, the industry generated $11.2 billion with 136 million spa visits in the United States.

And the hot spa market isn't catering to just women. More and more men are lining up for hot stone massages and Thai treatments at spas in Boston and beyond.

Nationally, the percentage of male customers has increased from 10 percent to 23 percent during the past 10 years, according to the International Spa Association.

At Etant, which opened six years ago on Tremont Street in the South End, owner Scott St. Cyr serves a clientele that's 50 percent male with acupuncture, massage and reflexology services.

"More men are taking better care of themselves," said St. Cyr. "We're becoming more aware of what it takes to be well."

At Exhale, which operates spas in New York, Boston and Los Angeles, the percentage of male customers has increased from 5 percent to 30 percent, Eschbach said.

In recent years, all-male spas have opened in Tucson, Ariz., Washington, D.C. , Seattle, Laguna Beach, Calif., Minneapolis, Tampa, Fla., Atlanta and New York, according to the spa association.

The younger set is also fueling the spa explosion. Teen-only spas have recently opened in Texas, with facilities in Plano and San Antonio.

Group spa-going is also on the rise, as more and more people book spas for bridal showers, engagment parties, business meetings and family reunions, said ISPA president Lynne Walker McNees.

The spas out there are as varied as the services they offer.

Day spas offer a one-stop place for manicures, facials and bodywork. Resort spas offer more elaborate body therapies at vacation destinations.

Medical spas, the newest member of the spa family, bring plastic surgeons, dermatologists and nurses on board to offer medical cosmetic procedures such as Botox injections, chemical peels and laser hair removal.

"This is a place where people can get professional medical services in a spa setting," said Joy Thompson, director of the Inaara MedSpa in Southboro.

At Inaara, clients sample cheese and wine in heated lounge massage chairs before consulting with a plastic surgeon on a treatment plan that might include $400 Botox injections or $165 microdermabrasion treatments.

Spa treatments are no longer just for the rich and famous.

Summertime outdoor street massages on Newbury Street start at $10.

"Today you can find a spa experience in your price range," said Walker McNees. "The explosion has made it more accessible to the mainstream consumer."

Caption: SPA PALS: There's nothing like a spa to maximize all- too-scarce relaxation time. At left, Dianne Cecere, an esthetician at Exhale, performs a lymphatic drainage, accupressure and massage. At right, Cristi Christensen strikes a dancer pose in Exhale's yoga studio. Staffs by Matthew West, left and right.

Source: Boston Herald

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