SpaFinder, Inc., a global spa-and-wellness resource, today announced its annual spa trend forecast. The report identifies global spa trends that SpaFinder’s staff and experts believe will influence spa experiences for both consumers and the industry in the coming year and for decades to come.

The report is based on analyses from a team of experts who visit hundreds of day- and stay-spas each year; interviews with top industry analysts; ongoing research across the spa, travel and beauty sectors; and data derived from SpaFinder’s relationships with more than 9,000 spas and salons across the globe.

1. Aging … Raging: Spas are showing ever-more awareness of the needs of older spa-goers, and beginning to incorporate exercise physiologists, chiropractors, orthopedics and naturopaths who focus on rejuvenation of joints, pain relief and mobility.

2. All eyes on Asia: Yoga, Thai massage, Ayurvedic medicine and acupuncture are staples on many spa menus, and the “Zen” nature of Asian design can be seen in spas worldwide. Read More…

In honor of National Melanoma Cancer Awareness Month, I interviewed a dozen folks who have been diagnosed with skin cancer. I digitally recorded their stories, and our photographers took lifestyle photographs. Their stories and images tell their story in the following slideshow.

Surprisingly, I noticed something different in these cancer survivors than other people I had interviewed with other types of cancer, such as breast cancer. The survivors’ attitude upon diagnosis was almost systematically laissez faire at first.

While the diagnosis of any type of cancer is so difficult that generations of people still whisper the word or refer to it generically as “C,” most people I interviewed were more intrepid about treatment. Their thoughts weren’t on radiation or chemo. Read more …

Playing it safe is not usually associated with great success. It’s that whole, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and the risk is worth the reward sort of thing. And in this business, you’re surrounded by risk-takers. Of course by the time they get to us, the risk resulted in regret.

In the midst of a recession, we launched a laser tattoo removal business in Houston, Texas. There were already over 100,000 people unemployed in our little part of the world, so needless to say entrepreneurial ventures were looking particularly intimidating. Read more …

The design of a medical spa should be viewed as an important aspect of the market position and brand message of the business.

The starting point to a great medical spa design is to have a clear understanding of your mission, concept and program. This should then dictate all of the design elements within the spa. Remember that the interior design communicates your brand message on a very personal level, a level where clients are intimately interacting with your brand using their five senses.

In addition, the moment you attach the word spa to medical, as in “medspa” or “medical spa,” you build client expectations that need to be met through many facets of the brand, especially the design. Communicating a brand is about taking the intangible and presenting it in a tangible form that can be perceived easily by your clients. And what better form than the interior design elements of color, texture and shapes? Read more …

June 9, 2010 from Surface Medical Spas

1. Before anything else, speak to your state’s accreditation department to learn the state laws about laser technicians. Each State’s rules can vary. For instance, CA only allows doctors, physician’s assistants and RNs to carry out a cosmetic laser treatment. Some states require immediate direction from a medical doctor throughout each procedure.

2. Develop your business plan. From it, point out tips on nearby competition and their procedures, together with insights on how you intend to be competitive. Build a new expense plan of estimated purchases to include the Intense pulsed light and cosmetic lasers, (you should evaluate all of the newest cosmetic laser reviews and look into used cosmetic lasersbefore buying), the expense of renting a medical clinic along with all of the essential features, procuring a doctor to work on your workers, obtaining education as well as the required permits, and lastly advertising your laser clinic. Figure out how you are going to procure financing for your company, like a credit union or bank loan, close friends, or maybe an angel investor.

3. Depending upon the specific state, become a registered laser technician and / or Master Esthetician. Choose a credentialed education course which allows for hands-on training. Learn the biology for the dermis and hair, possible effects, laser configurations, hair growth cycles and ways in which to help assist customers about dealing with their skincare before every chemical peel, injection or cosmetic laser treatment.

4. Establish your laser clinic or medical spa as being a C corporation or limited liability company. Register your corporation with the state, obtain a Federal Tax number and purchase liability insurance for your medical spa business.

5. Rent the location for your medspa. Move into an old dermatologist’s medical practice or find acceptable space to make a waiting room, reception area and back office, meeting room, and procedure room.

6. Hire the team. At the very least, a new med spa team includes a assistant, a laser technician or esthetician to operate the laser, plus a physician to oversee operations. Your state will determine the degree of involvement essential from your medical director. He might only oversee treatments and be around in the event of a serious event, or be needed to be in the room for each and every procedure.

7. Buy an FDA-approved laser or IPL. Lasers range from the Ruby, Alexandrite laser, to the Diode, along with Intense Pulsed light (IPL) or CO2 fractional lasers. Various lasers respond in different ways to certain skin types. Communicate with top rated manufacturers such as Candela, Cynosure, Cutera, Lumenis, Syneron, ESC Sharplan, Palomar and Sciton to make it easier to find a cosmetic laser. Once you’ve purchased your laser, have your main office staff go through the education supplied from the laser company. It will be important to pay for separate instruction for each technology.

Reinventing the names

Many diagnostic centers have coined their facilities’ official name to include the term “wellness.” Wellness is a word associated by many with alternative medicine and spas conjures pictures of well-being and relaxation.  The Diagnostic & Wellness Center for Women of Pacific Medical Center (PacMed), the Diagnostic and Wellness Center at Harbor-UCLA, and the Women’s Diagnostic and Wellness Center of Coral Springs Medical Center in Florida are examples of this trend. Even the renowned Cleveland Clinic has its Florida Health and Wellness Center. One would seldom associate these names with mammography or calcium scans. Spas on the other hand, have adopted the term “medical spas” or medispas” to emphasize the medical and health benefits of their services. In the same way, alternative medicine is trying to keep up with technology. Whereas traditional acupuncture uses manual stimulation, acupuncture centers use new technology for stimulation, from electrical impulses and lasers to moxibustion and heat.

Reinventing the environment

Many clinics are redesigning their facilities to make them less sterile and more relaxing. PacMed’s Diagnostic & Wellness Center for Women in Seattle describes its setting as “spa-like”, with interior decor in warm, soothing colors and furniture and fixtures one wouldn’t normally find in a normal clinic setting. “The soothing, warm hues of the decor and custom-made, heated robes are a few touches that aim to put anxious patients at ease,” according to their October 2007 press release. However, despite the spa-like atmosphere, this unique wellness center has all the state-of-the-art medical and diagnostic equipment as well as top notch medical staff necessary to perform diagnostic tests. “Our goal is to change the healthcare experience for the better and encourage people to take a proactive approach to wellness”, according to a PacMed Center spokesperson. The Women’s Diagnostic & Wellness Center at Coral Springs Medical Center in Coral Springs Florida calls its setting “home-like” to do away with the impersonal atmosphere that is associated with many diagnostic centers. Read more …

While many anti-aging treatments such as wrinkle fillers and Botox focus on hiding the signs of aging, the most effective anti-aging treatments are designed to actively rejuvenate the skin, providing it with a better appearance, elasticity, firmness and moisture.

One exciting new medical spa treatment of this nature is called LED skin rejuvenation. This process uses light to encourage skin cells to multiple and produce collagen, which gives youthful skin its natural firmness. Unlike many popular laser treatments for more youthful skin, this process does not start by damaging the skin to promote growth. This makes the procedure safer than laser skin treatments and also reduces recovery time from any redness or swelling. While LED skin rejuvenation does require several treatments over a few weeks or months, it is pain free, unlike laser procedures. Read more …