Spa Foot Treatments on the Rise - East Idaho News

Spa Foot Treatments on the Rise

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A spa foot massage jef 121010 wg?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1350150461364Getty Images/Flickr RF(NEW YORK) — More spas have introduced specialty foot treatments, and the offerings go far beyond basic reflexology. And while many may sound gimmicky, the demand for spa treatments that focus on the feet are increasing.

At the Institute Beaute, a podiatry clinic and medical spa in New York City, foot facials; foot micro dermabrasion; and even foot pillows, where the balls of the feet are injected with fillers like Botox, are oft-requested treatments.

Dr. Suzanne Levine, a podiatric surgeon and founder of the salon Institute Beaute, said the demand primarily comes from women wearing shoes that are higher than ever.

“We’ve gone from heels to spikes,” she said. Part of the attraction of higher-than-ever heels, she said, is status.

“We’re going back to the same trend of the 1600s when status was determined by the shoes people wore. Today, we look at the bag and look at the shoes. They’re statement pieces, pieces of worth. You may see a woman in a very inexpensive dress but very expensive 8-inch heels.”

For this reason, she said, foot problems, and therefore foot treatments, are needed by everyone, not just the wealthy.

As a result, some spas have specifically targeted fans of high heels.

At Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, N.Y., the spa offers the “High Heeler” for calf and foot relief. Canyon Ranch SpaClub in Las Vegas offers the “Healthy in Heels” treatment.

Canyon Ranch is among the well-known spas around the country focusing on the foot. The Canyon Ranch SpaClub in Las Vegas opened the Healthy Feet Center inside the Venetian in 2011. It was the first facility of its kind, the center said, that is wholly devoted to advanced foot health and comfort.

The program concept expanded to the Canyon Ranch destination spas in Tucson, Ariz., and Lenox, Mass., in 2012. And the services are coming to the SpaClub at Sea division, which includes Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, as well as Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.

One offer is a “Gait and Footwear” analysis, which includes a video analysis of your gait and a “precise assessment of the biomechanics of your feet as you walk across an orthotics mat.”

The focus on the foot is so popular that SpaFinder Wellness forecast it as a top spa trend for 2012.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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