Chinese Spa Treatment

Chinese spa treatments can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. Individual treatments are faster and less expensive than a full day treatment, but full day treatments often address several health or relaxation issues. Chinese spa treatments are closely tied to traditional Chinese medicine, and focus on strengthening and manipulating the chi, or life force.

Massage

• Chinese massage can involve a number of different techniques. The closest thing to a Western-style massage is called Tui Na. In a Tui Na massage, the soft part of the hands are used to massage chi meridians and pressure points. There are a number of schools of Tui Na that specialize in joint injuries or simple chi manipulation. Practitioners of a particular school may specialize in a particular area, but are often competent in several areas.

Herbal Hot Tubs

• Many Chinese spas offer individual or communal herbal baths or hot tubs. Herbal baths date back a thousand years to the Zhou dynasty. Herbal baths are taken for relaxation, skin health and general health improvement. Herbal baths can help with fungal infections, skin sores, and sore joints or arthritis. In addition to specific health benefits, herbal baths are recommended for general beauty care.

Reflexology

• Reflexology is a method of manipulating the body and chi via pressure points on the hands and feet. Most Chinese practitioners focus on the feet, using techniques that range from simple massage to Gua Sha. Gua Sha uses a jade, stone, bone or wood paddle to massage pressure points on the feet. This rubbing, which can be quite painful when there are problems with health and the chi, causes blood to rush to the pressure points, thus detoxifying the problem pressure points.

Ho Guan

• Ho Guan is known in the West as "cupping." Many Chinese spas offer cupping, a process in which a glass or ceramic cup is placed over a pressure point. The air is removed from the cup, drawing blood up toward the pressure point and removing toxins from that particular point.

Acupuncture and Acupressure

• Many Chinese spas employ an acupuncture specialist. Acupuncture is the process of stimulating chi points with needles to remove blockages and move the chi to areas of the body that are weak. Acupressure is similar, but uses pressure techniques instead of needles.

Chinese Medical Consultation

• Many Chinese spas require an initial consultation with a Chinese doctor to ensure that the spa treatment meets your individual needs. By diagnosing the condition of your chi, the entire spa treatment can be tailored to help with specific problems and conditions.