Where to experience the latest incarnations of water therapy
MAGGIE BEALE DISCOVERS THE BEST PLACES TO GET WET WITH WATER THERAPIES GLOBALLY
You might say it’s in our blood, and you’re right – our bodies consist of 50 to 70 per cent water after all. Water therapies are currently in vogue, but its healing properties have actually been enjoyed by the Romans, the Greeks and the Etruscans as well as the Chinese and Egyptians for thousands of years. Spa Finder has proclaimed 2006’s trend to be water – we follow the trickle to see how far it has come on the trail.
BENEFITS OF WATER THERAPHY
The benefits of water treatments are wide in range, and often hard to quantify. However, there are the indisputable ones that never fail to deliver: hot water eases muscle tension, relieves pain and improves our circulation by causing blood vessels to dilate. Cold water can both stimulate and soothe.
Also indisputable are the numerous different practices that harness water power, with water therapies administered at spas, ayurvedic and holistic centers, and health clinics around the world. Your favorite sports stars will have hydrotherapy baths to help them recover from joint and muscle injuries. A spokesperson at The Mandala spa explains: “The word ‘spa’ is an acronym for the Latin phrase ‘Sanus Per Aquam’ (‘health through water’).”
SPECTACULAR RESULTS
For skeptics, hard evidence of the success of water treatments comes along every now and then, such as the story reported in the British press this summer.
Eczema-sufferers rejoiced with four-year-old Ryan Knott, who had lived with severe eczema over most parts of his body, until he underwent a three-week course of treatments at the Avène Dermatological Spa.
In the Daily Mail, Ryan’s father was reported to say: “Ryan arrived at the spa with his skin inflamed and his neck, in particular, very red and sore. He had a 20-minute spa bath that evening, and by night-time, the inflammation had started to subside – you could actually see the redness fading.”
Ryan also drank water from the spring, and used a steroid cream, as well as undergoing a 20-minute bath and two showers daily. His dramatic results focused the world’s attention on the thermal water spa, and reports are trumpeting the benefits of Avène spring water.
Back in 1874, the therapeutic properties of the water were officially validated by the French National Academy of Medicine.
Avène Dermatological Laboratories was established in 1989, and the following year, the hydrotherapy center was dedicated to scientific “thermalism”. Five years later, on 20 May 2005, Pierre Fabre Laboratories inaugurated the new thermal establishment at Avène les Bains (Hérault), France.
Their treatments take place over three weeks under the supervision of hydrotherapy dermatologists. Patients at Avène are generally affected by atopic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis or the after-effects of burns, with more than one third of patients under 15 years old.
Treatment can reduce patients’ symptoms by up to 90 per cent, with children often responding faster than adults, as in the case of young Ryan.
DIFFERENT TREATMENTS
So what are the various types?
Hydrotherapy
This involves immersion and exercise in water. It includes steam baths, rain showers, plunge pools and sea-salt baths, and is commonly thought to be helpful for bladder and urinary problems, mild colds and low fevers.
Some practitioners prefer a hipbath or the sitzbath – to immerse only the bottom and hips. Hot water followed by cold is especially beneficial for the abdomen and the reproductive system, inflammations, pelvic congestion, cramps, hemorrhoids and menstrual problems, as well as kidney and intestinal pains.
Balneotherapy
This form of water therapy involves soaking or bathing in water, sometimes with special salts, for the treatment of disease. It can relieve swelling and joint stiffness, improve blood flow and overall mobility, and relieve tension.
Jacuzzis fall in this category, providing a soothing and refreshing soak at the end of a busy day. Phytotherapy (plant or plant extracts) can also be added.
Thalassotherapy
This treatment focuses on seawater, which is similar to the body’s own internal fluids and thought to allow magnesium and potassium to be drawn into the blood stream while actively eliminating toxins.
Adding seaweed boosts the vitamin K content, and is a great way to stimulate the thyroid and adrenal glands while helping to maintain hormone balance.
AGUA BUENA (SWEET WATER)
Go with the flow, and experience the waterworks for yourself. Here are some top spas to sample across the Philippines:
THE MANDALA SPA HOTEL, BORACAY
Address: Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan, Philippines 5608
Tel: (36) 288-5858
This spa is the only place in the Philippines to offer the ancient treatment of Watsu, or water shiatsu, a deep relaxation water therapy that began in California.
Mandala’s Watsu practitioner, Kanela Barton discovered the treatment while recovering from an automobile accident. Her experience inspired her to learn the therapy to treat others.
Mandala combines Watsu with Water Dance therapies to blend East and West in what is described as a transcending experience: “Surrender to the water… let your soul be heard.”
While Watsu is a back-to-the-womb experience, Water Dance is a dynamic movement therapy above and below the water. Extensions, stretches, flexes, dolphin-like movements and snake-like rhythms not only provide a physical release, but they also allow for the deepest states of relaxation and meditation.
Mandala’s Water Journey is a combination of Watsu and their signature floral bath. Indeed, water is so implicit in Mandala’s practice that the spa’s co-owner Karen Villarica-Reina says, “My ethos in life is to be the sea, to embrace all that is.”
WATER BABIES
In Hollywood, water births or “birth in the bath” is a huge celebrity trend. Screen celebrities Kate Hudson, Debra Messing, Denise Richards, and US talk show host Ricki Lake have all used this method.
Mega-stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt wanted to give birth this way so badly that they went to extreme lengths by involving a government in their water baby event.
In Namibia, Africa, the government made sure media and interlopers were kept far away from the Welwitschia Clinic in Walvis Bay as their daughter Shiloh floated into the world.
Grateful for the tall barriers, bodyguards and undercover cops, the couple donated at least US$400,000 (PHP19,872,000) to Namibian health projects.
Water birthing can be somewhat crowded, with midwives, doulas (birthing coach) nursing-midwives and even significant others getting in on the act.
All literally in the tub – with everything else! Pitt did it. So did Rob Sussman, Ricki Lake’s now estranged husband. Leave it to the world of fantasy to upstage the traditional.
ANIMAL THERAPIES
Today, spas attract clients with bulging budgets all over the world. As a result, major medical schools now conduct courses on water therapy for medical professionals. Even dogs and horses are getting into the swim of things.
There’s an Association of Canine Water Therapy spas in America and Canada. In the UK, the Equine Hydrotherapy Centre (ESC) in Wiltshire offers water therapy for horses and ponies. In Hong Kong, the famous Jockey Club racecourse at Shatin has a specially built pool where racehorses take their morning swim.
Dog Spas US: www.caninewatertherapy.com horse pools UK: email info@equineservicecentre.com
MOGAMBO SPRINGS PLANTATION BAY RESORT & SPA, CEBU
Address: Marigondon, Mactan Island, Cebu, Philippines 6015
Tel: (32) 340-5900 Here, being “close to nature” takes on new meaning as it involves massage from the spills of a sparkling waterfall. It’s one of the special features at this spa. Perhaps it’s the experience of natural forces and the almost magical encounter of a vigorous hydro-massage in a waterfall basin.
Curving around a turquoise-colored bay, though man-made the setting of the resort just begs to be photographed, especially the waterfall which rises like a sentinel behind the buildings, carrying a translucent halo of shimmering mist.
The spa also has a hot pool with jacuzzi jets that aim to give your tired body a wake-up call – works better than an alarm clock any day!
Then there’s a mineral-rich pool to make your skin as soft as silk, and another eye-opener – a high-pressure needle-shower nook, all designed to make your skin glow.
SHANGRI-LA'S MACTAN ISLAND RESORT
Address: Punta Engano Road, Lapu-Lapu, Cebu 6015
Tel: (32) 231-0288
This exclusive resort has its own private beach with a marine sanctuary on the Visayan sea. A secluded spa village, the CHI Spa concept uses a traditional Chinese philosophy. Signature therapies are built around the five elements: metal, water, wood, fire and earth in their relationship to 
positive Yang and negative Yin energies. The ancient traditional methods from the Himalayas add to the lure of all the luxury you can expect.
The unique Chi Water Garden Pavilion features vitality hydro pools, herbal steam rooms, aroma-relax beds and body scrub salons. There are herbal tubs, a spa pool and an aromadrome as well as state-of-the-art bathing and water therapy facilities.
Water Shiatsu therapies for deep relaxation and restoration are a specialty of the house – a definite must-try.
JAPAN'S ONSEN
The Japanese have got the ritual of bathing down to a fine art with onsen — therapeutic hot springs. Because parts of Japan are volcanic, there are natural springs all over the country, roughly 150 sites with 14,000 individual springs. Onsen are also places to relax and communicate with others.
Some hot springs contain virgin water, but the majority get their water lines from rainwater heated by earth’s core (magma).
According to the “Hotspring Bill” signed in Syouwa, to be classified as a hot spring, the water temperature needs to be higher than 25 degrees Celsius, and must contain pre-determined amounts of minerals, such as sulphur, salt, saltine sodium hydrogen carbonate, myrabilite, gypsum, iron and alum amongst other things, which are good for skin disorders, rheumatism, heart and stomach problems, and regulating metabolism.
In the seaside resort of Beppo, the juxtaposition of open sea and towering mountains is a feast for the eyes. There are some amazingly coloured springs and geysers (jigoku), including those with naturally coloured red or blue waters.
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