THE WELLNESS EQUATION
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 42)
massage and CAM, where does spa come into the health care
equation? “Spa comes into the equation when you peel back
the covers on CAM and find that many of the CAM therapies
that have been validated as helpful originate from (or are
often a part of) spa,” Dr. Bauer says. “Think of things such as
massage or stress-management techniques like meditation or
guided imagery which are frequently offered by spas of all
types. Or even novel ways (e.g. yoga, tai chi, qi gong) to get
all types of patients to exercise and, in some instances, even
teach/demonstrate the benefits of good nutrition. Finally,
think of the sense of community that many spas help provide
to their clients. All of these approaches might typically be
thought of as CAM by most medical providers, but if you
consider the breadth of spa treatments available—we are, in
many instances, really talking about spa,” he further explains.
Dr. Bauer provides a strong case study of the creation of a
Healing Enhancement Program by a Cardiovascular Surgery team
at Mayo Clinic Rochester in 2004. The team, hoping to lessen
the pain associated with post open-heart surgery, introduced
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November 2011
CAM therapy to their patients. What they found out is that
patients given two to four days of massage therapy had a significant decrease on both anxiety and pain levels.
“It was such powerful [information], enough that the surgeons hired massage therapists and are now part of the regular
outpatient or recovery process of open-heart surgery in Mayo
Clinic,” Dr. Bauer says.
The small research was, in many ways, a game-charger as, it
not only changed how cardiovascular surgeons at Mayo Clinic
practiced medicine, but has also caught the attention of other
specialists like thoracic, colorectal and breast cancer surgeons
who had requested similar studies for their patients.
Today, several medical institutions like Florida Hospital
How can the spa industry through complementary
and alternative medicine be in the forefront in addressing global health issues, such as obesity, heart disease or
cancer? Dr. Bauer weighs in on this global issue. Visit
digital Pulse at experienceispa.com to read more.