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PrintWrapped in Comfort
Photograph by Tyler Olson/istockphoto
A popular trend in Bay Area spas, herbal body wraps are seducing men and women alike with their cocoon-like bliss. The thought of spending an afternoon cozily swathed in organic cotton sheets soaked in fragrant herbs sounds so soothing, who wouldn’t want to try it? But it is the wrap’s detoxifying properties that make it a natural addition to a health regimen.
“In our holistic approach, it is healing from within through your skin,” says Dr. Desiree Dominguez, ND, a naturopathic physician practicing at La Concha Spa Salon in Willow Glen. “It is a gentle way to help detoxify the body.”
The body wrap process is simple and non-invasive. Various herbs are boiled together with natural cotton sheets, and the sheets are wrapped around the client’s body. The client is then cocooned in a thermal lining—imagine those silver emergency blankets found in camping supply stores—to keep warm. “With the warmth, it helps open the pores and pull out all the toxins,” Dominguez says. “So it is like going into a sauna, but it is not as invasive as a sauna. It will help you slowly steam [the toxins] out… When you do the wraps, it pulls out the impurities, and then the minerals go into the body.”
Dominguez recommends body wraps to patients with a wide variety of diseases and disorders. However, wraps are not recommended for pregnant women or people with high blood pressure due to the use of heat. “[The wrap keeps] our bodies on target because our environment is toxic,” says Dominguez. “Medication, antibiotics, everything pharmaceutical, preservatives, food coloring, different types of shampoos with sulfites, all that stuff is so toxic. It is [processed] through the liver and the liver gets congested. The only way to help—the most non-invasive way—is through a wrap.”
Wraps and Weight Loss
The hope of losing weight is another reason why people sign up for body wraps, but do wraps actually trim inches? Temporarily, yes, but they don’t replace the need for a healthy diet and exercise. “It does help with weight loss, with the excess [weight] from stress. It helps with that extra water retention,” says Dominguez. “Now, with weight loss, you’ve got to maintain a healthy lifestyle, good diet, good balance, and good exercise, of course.”
She adds that for many, the release of retained water “helps people to be able to get off the table and breathe easier with just having that done.” Because of the expected fluid loss, clients should drink a lot of water before and after having a wrap.
No matter what else a body wrap gives you, the relaxation effect of 30-60 minutes of lying on a table swathed in warm, aromatic herbs can only make you feel good. As Dominguez says, “Our body runs 24-7 and doesn’t stop. We have to go with it. You are what you eat and you are what you do. Put yourself first.”
Where to Get Wrapped
Bay Area Health Spa
2055 Grant Road, Los Altos
650.390.9727, bayareahealthspa.com
SlenderTone wrap: 60 minutes for $139
Burke Williams
355 Santana Row, San Jose
866.239.6635, burkewilliamsspa.com
Calming/detox wrap: 25 minutes for $55
La Concha Spa Salon
1042 Lincoln Ave., San Jose
408.286.8612, laconchaspa.com
Herbal wrap: 45 minutes plus a sauna for $100
Tranquility Day Spa
424 Toyon Ave., San Jose
408.926.3000, tranqdayspa.com
Sudatonic wrap: 60 minutes for $95
White Lotus Wellness Center
545 Ocean View Ave., Santa Cruz
831.247.6215, whitelotuswellness.com
Detox herbal body wrap: 60 minutes for $70
