Kamalaya Koh Samui
Beauty Spa. Spa Awards. Spas are no longer seen as luxury experiences...

Spas are no longer seen as luxury experiences, but as a way to dramatically improve our health. Imagine cutting-edge diagnostics and check-ups in heavenly destinations. Judy Chapman reports on the arrival of the medical spa.

It hardly seemed the most sensational news - yet another luxury spa was about to open its doors to the Middle East. But when the Four Seasons Hotel unveiled its palatial Spa and Wellness Centre in Doha last year, it marked a new chapter in the pamper industry: the medical spa. While we all love a day filled with massages, mud masks and manicures, it appears the next generation of savvy spas-goers want more. The result is purpose-built retreats where everything from obesity, impotence, heart disease, diabetes and stress are treated in the height of opulence.

Trend analysts predict that future travellers will make their holiday decisions based on the potential health benefits of their hotel rather than the virtues of the destination. Indeed medical tourism is considered the fastest growth area of the spa industry, catering to a new breed of tourist who wants to return home from vacation not only feeling fabulous, but with new-found knowledge of how to better take care of themselves.

"Spas are no longer seen as luxuries," says Mark Wuttke, principal of Wuttke Group, a marketing specialist. "For an ageing and stressed population, spas provide a more holistic approach to help clients reach a higher plateau of wellness." What sets medical spas - or medispas as they are more commonly known - is they must have a licensed medical practitioner on the premises. But as Wuttke warns, any spa-goer considering services offered by medical spas should research them thoroughly to determine their accreditation and credentials.

According to doctors longevity and anti-ageing are the driving forces behind the medical spa trend. Weight loss and detox programmes are proving to be the most popular, where machine-based and traditional diagnostic therapies are given as part of the overall package. Other treatments range from traditional ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine to cutting-edge thermage and laser rejuvenation treatments. The convenience of having a yearly examination at one location is also boosting the stocks of the medical spa. "Our guests are increasingly interested in taking all their health tests in one place. This is because they are busy executives that would prefer to get it all done in one go," says Sue Davies, health and vitality manager at the Chiva Som International Resort. The advantage, she says, is that the medical staff has more time to look at the bigger picture and can intergrate long-term solutions to health problems rather than quick fixes.

And forget sterile white clinics. Medical spas offer all the usual plush advantages of the conventional spa. It's just that diet-friendly cuisine, yoga, fitness and spiritual healing are also encouraged as the daily regime. "Pleasure needs to be apart of the cure to be effective," says Raoul Andrew Sudre, from Aspen Spa Management. "Where once fat farms and centres prescribed fasting or surgery, health practitioners and doctors at spas offer well rounded programmes with nutritional advice, fitness and therapies that creates long-term results."

While, the operating table is not usually part of the experience, an increasing number of hospitals are starting to add spa therapies for patients to take pre and post surgery. Basically the philosophy of the medical spa is that all areas of life are looked after including physical, mental, spiritual and emotional. Here's a round up of some of the best medical spas.

KAMALAYA, THAILAND

Thailand's newest sanctuary on the island of Koh Samui where getting well is promoted as a joyous experience.

Treatments & activities
Ayurveda, traditional Chinese and naturopathic medicine, colon hydrotherapy, Ozone, homeopathy, flower remedies and infrared sauna, pranayama, pilates and sound yoga.

Diagnostic therapies
Medical, naturopathic and holistic consultations. Programmes Quit smoking, weight loss, improved fitness, stress reduction and burn out.

Contact enquiries
info@kamalaya.com
www.kamalaya.com