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Ionithermie
Nazia Khan finds out about the treatment that uses detoxification for cellulite correction and body contouring

Remember the movie Bubble Boy? It was about a man born without an immune system who had to spend all his life in a plastic bubble, to protect himself from rampant contaminants. In the movie, he goes on to develop a portable plastic bubble so he doesn't have to stay confined to his house. Plastic bubbles, portable or otherwise, aren't an option for most of us, though we are all exposed to toxins – potentially harmful compounds, whose build-up may lead to hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiency and inefficient metabolism. Caffeine, cigarette smoke, red meat, food additives such as preservatives and artificial flavours, and air pollutants all contain toxins. As the toxic burden accumulates with age, it may cause fatigue and poor skin conditions, among other symptoms. And that's where ionithermie, a treatment that extracts toxins from the body and promotes circulation, offers help.

Ionithermie, originally developed by the French biochemist Olivier Fouche in 1979, corrects cellulite, improves skin and muscle tone, and also provides the benefit of inch loss. This is achieved through a combination of galvanic and faradic stimuli, thermal clay, essential oils and algae. And demonstrating the ionithermie way in Oman at the Ayana Slim Spa were Louise Wrankmore, training and distribution manager for Spa Resources International, Dubai, and her associate Erin Rees.

Louise describes the FDA-approved treatment as one that combines detoxification and body contouring. Says Louise, "Despite the 'convenience lifestyles' we lead, our bodies are very forgiving. But after a point, the body needs treatment, just as any machine needs servicing after a certain period of use."

When eating that rare steak, gulping down that quick soda or drinking that extra-strong coffee, we rarely think of the long-term effect it will have on our body. But toxin build-ups are a lot like a cement coating. The longer we let it be, the more difficult it is to break up. Water retention, poor circulation and adult acne are among the outer manifestations of the problem as it grows.

The number of ionithermie sessions a person might require depends on the level of toxin build-up in the body, which is determined through consultation. Louise explains that a 22 year old, whose weight is ideal but who smokes 15 cigarettes a day, might have a greater toxin build up than an overweight 45 year old. You have got to keep in mind that while ionithermie helps inch loss, it is not just about this. At any given time, different parts of the body have different temperatures. These are the body’s warm and cold ‘pockets’. The warmer areas indicate that circulation in that part is just fine. The colder areas, on the other hand, are a sign of poor circulation. What ionithermie aims at is achieving uniform and strong circulation all over the body. The treatment can be applied to different parts of the body, from the arms and abdomen, to the bust and thighs. The treatment is also adaptable for men.

After the consultation determines a person's lifestyle and problem areas, the treatment itself begins. The areas to be treated are first brushed with a skin brush, after which exfoliating agents are applied. After a protective layer of fabric is wrapped around the body, an algae-infused, electricity-conducting clay is applied to the skin and electrodes are placed onto selected contact points. The algae is rich in minerals and helps the skin to rehydrate. It also serves to effectively improve the body’s metabolic functions.

The electrodes conduct the galvanic and faradic stimulation. While the galvanic stimulation uses the positive and negative ions to deeply extract toxins from within the skin and body, the faradic stimulation promotes muscle tone and skin firmness through electrical muscle contractions. The latter is frequently used by chiropractors as well as therapists to restore muscles and tissues to their original levels of efficiency.

Louise says that the therapist administering the treatment is trained to control how strong the impulses are and how deep they go into the layers of skin. As the approximately two-hour session progresses, the clay gets warmer and harder. Throughout, you might experience a slight tingling sensation but there's really no discomfort or pain. It's all rather like a passive exercise, but it is exercise nevertheless. And the aromatic clay makes the process that much more enjoyable. Once you get used to the sensation that the treatment entails, you might even fall asleep. Informs Louise, "A lot of our clients do."

By the end of the treatment, the clay can simply be removed as a hardened mask, without creating any mess. There's a homecare programme that accompanies the ionithermie treatment to further enhance its effects. This programme is personalised and tailor-made for individual clients according to their lifestyles, needs and wants. Of course, you need to regulate your diet, as the sessions progress, for ionithermie to be fully successful. But it is more like light discipline as opposed to strict deprivation. As it combats toxins on the cellular level, there is a certain value-addition to ionithermie’s popular reputation as a bulge-blaster. As Louise concludes, "Very few of us can go without ever having a cup of coffee or a bar of chocolate again. In such a case, what ionithermie provides is a realistic re-education about our body, diet and exercise."