Air therapy is another name for pneumatic compression massage, a treatment that the Los Angeles-based FBE Spa claims can help you lose weight by stimulating circulation and allowing toxins to be flushed out of the lymphatic system. Proponents of the treatment contend that, along with a healthy diet and regular exercise, periodic air therapy treatments can both enhance your overall health and help keep you thin. However, there are a number of disadvantages associated with air therapy weight management treatments.
FBE Spa
The FBE Spa originated air therapy weight-loss treatments and is the only location doctor-supervised air therapy sessions are conducted, as of 2010. The facility sells its own specially designed pneumatic compression machines to private purchasers throughout North America, but other owners of the air therapy machines cannot provide commercial weight-loss services. The FBE Spa focuses on providing a variety of other holistic services in addition to air therapy including detoxification sessions in infrared saunas, acupuncture and whole body vibration therapy.
Air Therapy Background
According to Dr. Ken Best, the head of the FBE Spa, toxins from chemicals, pollution and the waste products of metabolic processes -- such as the compound lactic acid -- can build up in your lymphatic fluid. When this happens, Best contends that you will have difficulty losing weight. Air therapy weight-loss treatments are based on the idea that rhythmic, gentle air pressure applied to the arms and legs can force lymph fluid towards the heart, increase the rate that toxins in the fluid are eliminated from the body and cause you to lose weight. However, the weight-loss claims made by Best and other FBE Spa proponents have not been supported by impartial scientific evidence.
Procedure
During a pneumatic compression massage session, you lie on a table wrapped in an inflatable full body glove that can be filled with varying levels of air pressure. When the pneumatic compression machine is turned on, air repeatedly inflates and deflates the body glove in the manner of a full body massage. The air pressure used can be customized for each dieter. A typical course of treatment lasts for one month, with the full pneumatic compression machine massages administered two or three times weekly. According to the main FBE Spa site, the treatment feels like you have "eight hands working on you at the same time" and is not painful or uncomfortable.
Advantages
According to air therapy proponents, pneumatic compression massages give dieters quick weight-loss results that can help motivate them to make the necessary changes in their lives and eating habits that can contribute to further weight loss. Additionally, the FBE Spa contends that air therapy can be used to treat a variety of health problems other than obesity including fibromyalgia, stress, restless leg syndrome, varicose veins and diabetes. However, the only information used to back up air therapy treatment claims come from studies conducted internally by the FBE Spa.
Disadvantages
Air therapy weight-loss treatments are not endorsed by any medical association and there are no clinical studies or scientific evidence backing up FBE Spa's claims that increased lymphatic fluid circulation can either clear toxins from your body or stimulate weight loss. Since the patients undergoing air therapy at the FBE Spa are also advised to adopt a low-fat diet and begin a regular exercise regimen, critics argue that it is these lifestyle changes and not the expensive pneumatic compression sessions that caused successful weight loss in dieters who say the program worked for them.
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