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Spas: The risks and benefits

The adverts are enticing and hard to miss: a serene atmosphere featuring relaxed and beautiful people, all of whom ostensibly got that way by living the “spa” life.

In fact, from day spas to weekend spas to week-long spa getaways, this form of “healthy” relaxation has become very popular.

The British International Spa Assocition cites a French survey showing that relaxation is the number one reason to visit a spa (91%), followed by ridding the body of toxins (56%).

Among the reasons cited for going to a spa are stress reduction and relief, soothing sore joints and muscles, and to simply feel better about oneself.

“Going to a spa is a way of getting taken care of that is psychologically and culturally acceptable - and we can carry that feeling of being cared for with us for a period of time, and very often that can help us cope better with stress”, according to professor of psychiatry, Dr Virginia Sadock.

“Moreover”, she says, “Most spa treatments involve being touched, a key element in helping us relax and feel better”.

“Physical contact is necessary to our well-being, and even if the touching is from a stranger, if that stranger is a professional there to pamper you, that touch will have a beneficial effect”, says Dr Sadock.

Plus, at least some studies show that these benefits can translate into better health. In one study of more than 3,300 Japanese government workers, frequency of spa use was linked to better physical and mental health, including better quality sleep and fewer sick days. In a similar study on German data conducted by US researchers, spa therapy reduced both absenteeism from work and hospital admissions.

However, are all spa treatments equal? Are there any hidden dangers that might prove unhealthy? We discovered some surprising truths along the route to better health.

Spas: Are they safe?

Who could forget the headlines that nearly wiped out the cruise ship industry: hundreds of people taken ill with Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially deadly pneumonia traced to a heated spa whirlpool bath onboard a luxury cruise ship.

Since that time, medical literature has included many studies on similar situations, all indicating that communal pools, saunas and other water-related spa treatments hold not only the potential to transmit the germ responsible for Legionnaires’ disease, but a host of equally threatening organisms.

“In many spa treatments that involve water, including hot whirlpool baths, very seldom do they change the water. They toss in some chlorine to keep bacteria counts down, but in no way does this eradicate organisms completely”, says microbiologist Dr Philip Tierno.

While he says some germs will succumb to chlorine, others, like those with a “biofilm” (a kind of molecular adhesive that binds several organisms together including those which cause Legionnaires’ disease), won’t be affected at all.