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Spas have soothed aching bodies for centuries,
and today we have more choice of spa treatments than ever.
By Dr. Ludmilla Vacek, PhD
Spas have a long history of medicinal use and applications in the
healing arts that goes back to ancient civilizations. The Egyptians,
Arabs, Romans, Greek, Chinese and Japanese all used spa therapies
such as massage, hydrotherapy (therapeutic baths), and herbal and
mud packs to treat a variety of disease and health problems. One
of the world’s most respected physicians, Hippocrates, studied the
influence of water temperature, hot and cold on organisms. The Greek
poet Homer spoke about the use of baths back in 8th century B.C.
The Romans are most renowned for their development of spas. They
built the first large bathhouse-spa in 334 B.C. Roman legions found
mineral springs helpful in treating battle fatigue, relaxation,
rheumatism, and gout. From this discovery grew Roman spa culture
and bathhouses offering steam therapy, body scrubs and wraps, massage
and physical therapy. What spas offer today is in principle, similar
to what was offered in ancient times.
The word "spa" may have originally been an acronym for the Latin
phrase "Solus Per Aqua" (health from water). It may have derived
from Spa, Belgium, a small village that has hot mineral springs
at its disposal. However, even though the development of spas in
North America has followed European traditions, it has also relied
upon native practices. North American First Nations respected and
used natural, healing therapies long before the arrival of Europeans.
Many native settlements were built around mineral springs, where
they found and used vapour caves, built steam baths, combined water
and herbs and frequently plunged into a cold river to invigorate
the body. Many stories describe how natives were cured and rejuvenated
from a variety of ailments, and fatigue and aging postponed, by
spa-like treatments.
By the late 1800s, the development of modern spas had moved to include
every part of the continent. Spas co-operated with physicians, and
the medical use of water therapies, massage, body wraps and herbal
applications, is well documented in the history of North American
medicine. Unfortunately, the heyday of great North American spa
and spa physicians was virtually over by the forties and almost
non-existent by the fifties. This was largely due to a scientific
boom and the discovery of important drugs in conventional Western
medicine. The government, academia, medical science and drug-manufacturing
companies, formed previously unheard of alliances and powerful partnerships,
beginning an age of wondrous findings and technological advances,
pushing spa therapies in North America into beatification and pampering
obscurity.
Spas did not experience a resurgence of interest until the eighties,
when the public, despite many successes within modern medicine,
became interested in alternative therapies for the treatment and
prevention of illness. In 1983 there were 13 spas in the USA and
Canada. Now there are approximately 5000 and the spa industry is
growing at an approximate rate of 15 percent annually.
According to Spa Canada, British Columbia has the largest number
of spas per capita in North America. Today’s spas are integrating
a variety of traditional treatments with complimentary treatments,
creating spa programming aimed at uniting body, mind and spirit
of the spa client. Spa menus include body treatments such as herbal
and mud wraps and packs, hydrotherapy and massage, complemented
by energy-based healing techniques and aromatherapy. Certain spas
offer more specific health prevention programs, diet and nutrition
and programs for cardio-respiratory rehabilitation, chronic pain
management, chronic osteoarthritis control, stress management and
many more.
These new developments present many challenges to spa owners, practitioners,
industry educators and industry regulating bodies. These challenges
can be met by continuing education of existing spa practitioners
and better education of those entering an industry that has embraced
its role in preventative health, healing and wellness. Historically,
spas and health have formed a natural alliance. The future of spa
development in North America seems destined to define spa treatments
as scientifically therapeutic, while conventional medicine must
face and embrace the demand for and benefits of complementary health
care.
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