— Yes, the vagina is a self-cleaning organ, but just because you don't have to tend to your lady bits with wacky treatments doesn't mean they wouldn't enjoy a stress-reducing vaginal steam bath! L.A. spas can help — for a price.
The L.A. Times reports some Southern California spas are now offering treatments based on a centuries-old Korean practice called chai-yok. The basic premise is that sitting on an open-seated stool over a boiling pot of herbs (usually including mugwort and wormwood) reduces stress, fights infections, clears hmorrhoids, regulates periods, and helps fight infertility.
The L.A. Times rustled up one person who advocates chai-yok: Tae-Cheong Choo, a teacher at Samra University of Oriental Medicine in Los Angeles. He claims:
"Many infertility problems are related to coldness and stagnation...The chai-yok treatment is effective for coldness or poor circulation in the lower part of the body because it increases the blood circulation, and blood supplies nutrition, so the more blood supply, the faster the healing process."
However, most medical experts remain unconvinced. Dr. Vicken Sahakian of the Pacific Fertility Center says, "It sounds like voodoo medicine that sometimes works." According to Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, an OB-GYN at Women's Care of Beverly Hills Medical Group, heat boosts circulation, so steaming your nether regions is "not insane," but that isn't exactly a ringing endorsement.
Of course, lack of scientific evidence has never prevented anyone from trying to convince women a treatment's absolutely essential to proper hoo-ha maintenance. The Tikkun Holistic Spa in Santa Monica has started offering a 30-minute steam for $50. At the Daengki Spa in L.A.'s Koreatown, you can get a 45-minute treatment for just $20. And New Yorkers can buy a Gyno Spa Cure at Juvenex Spa for $75. The extra cash is well worth it, as the Gyno Spa Cure treats cancer as well.
If you're skeptical, that's understandable. We've already been told the vaginal region requires a facial, labia dye, and bedazzling. But, lest you think $50 steam treatments are another scam that preys on women being raised to think they're dirty "down there," Tikkun Holistic Spa also offers steams for dudes who want to keep their perineum and balls nice and toasty.
Vaginal Steam Bath Finds A Place Among Southern California Spa Options [L.A. Times]
Earlier: The Vagacial: Now Your Vagina Needs A Facial Too
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