A body wrap is a popular spa treatment that, proponents claim, can help you lose weight, detoxify your tissues and both soften and tighten your skin. Body wraps may contain a number of different herbs, salts, clays, minerals and essential oils, and the procedure to apply them is similar whether you do an at-home version or choose to have the wrap professionally done. According to body wrap advocates, undergoing wraps regularly can give you a wide variety of health benefits.
Aspects
The theory behind body wraps -- particularly those performed for weight loss purposes -- is both to encourage toxins and the excess fluids with them to leave the body through sweating and to cause the cells in body tissue to squeeze closer together and take up less space after the excess fluid has been flushed out. "The Early Show" on CBS conducted an experiment with four different women undergoing body wraps during the course of their morning broadcast. According to the site, all four of the volunteers lost an average of 3 inches after a one-hour body wrap.
Types
Ask a Healer reports that there are three main categories of body wraps: detoxifying clay wraps, herbal body wraps and mineral wraps. Clay wraps contain different types of bentonite clay as their main ingredient, while mineral wraps focus on mineral-containing muds and herbal wraps contain large amounts of dried, powdered herbs and essential oils.
Procedure
In a typical body wrap, elastic cloths or clean white towels are soaked in body wrap solution that usually contains a mixture of essential oils like lemon, lavender, basil or rosemary oil; herbs such as chamomile, rosehips, calendula, lavender, alfalfa leaf and parsley; and sea salt or Epsom salts mixed with clay or mud and a fluid like apple cider vinegar, water or milk powder mixed with water. The cloths or towels are wrapped snugly around the arms, legs, stomach, upper chest and neck, and the individual is then wrapped in a heat-conserving blanket or sheet and left to rest for a period of time. To maintain the inches lost and other benefits following a body wrap, a regular series of them is recommended.
Location
While body wraps for weight loss are typically performed in day spas, they can be prohibitively expensive since the treatment may be combined with other spa services like massages, waxing, facials or mud baths, and frequent repetitions of the treatment may be required to maintain any weight loss or decrease in inches. Body wraps can be made and applied at home for a fraction of the cost of a spa body wrap, but performing the treatment at home requires some advance preparation.
Benefits
According to the Consumer Guide to Plastic Surgery and the CBS News Early Show, body wraps are thought to help you lose inches around your waist, improve immune system function by stimulating your lymphatic system, increase your metabolic rate and improve both the feel and appearance of the skin by ridding body tissues of excess toxins and fluids. Body wraps may help exfoliate the skin as well as decrease the appearance of wrinkles. The treatments are also believed to be an effective treatment for stress and to improve blood circulation and help ease muscle and joint pain.
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