5 Best Spas in the Encino Area

By Erica Andrews from Encino Patch

 

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Do you ever feel like you just need a day away from all the hustle and bustle of your daily life? If you just want to relax, you’ve come to the right place.
This week we picked our five favorite spas in the area. These spa treatments can help you to lose inches from your waistline, get rid of any respiratory issues you may have or give you the perfect organic sun-kissed glow, without the worry of skin cancer.






Spa 10 has a friendly atmosphere and provides everything from eyelash extensions to body toning. Body toning treatments are done with a machine that comfortably massages away cellulite and works to tighten your muscles. It also offers Organic Airbrush Tanning which is 100 percent paraben free and provides a natural airbrush bronze, so you can avoid tanning in the sun’s harmful. Call 818-528-7373 or visit thespa10.com for more information.




Salt Chalet was the first halotherapy center on the West Coast when it opened in November 2009 on the second floor of Encino Commons. With therapy rooms that are designed to feel like natural salt caves, it offers alternative treatments for a variety of health conditions, including insomnia, skin irritations, respiratory ills and even digestive problems. Each treatment lasts 45 minutes, which is made comfortable with lounge chairs, a stereo system and flat-screen televisions. Call 818-907-9512 or visit SaltChalet.com for more information.


Sylvie’s MedSpa is a quaint, but stylish spa located in the Encino Town Center on Ventura Boulevard. Services include everything from massages to Botox injections. There are also many types of facials offered, such as the Cell Structural Enhancement Facial, which is said to renew skin to make it look healthier and brighter. Various types of massages including deep tissue, Swedish, pregnancy, reflexology, or hot stone are also available. Call 818-905-8815 or visit sylviesmedspa.com for more information.




Dtox Day Spa provides a relaxing and calming getaway for couples and singles. A giant Buddha and double waterfall set the calming tone at this spa. It offers facials, body treatments, hair removal and tub treatments. One of their most popular facials is the Organic Custom Facial, which includes full fruit and vegetable pulps with herbal oils. Call 818-574-3700 or visit dtoxdayspa.com for more information.



Casablanca Salon & Day Spa is Moroccan inspired and features arched doorways, hardwood floors and bright pops of color. Unlike its counterparts, this beauty center does hair and spa treatments – styling, cutting, coloring, perms, extensions and other treatments, as well as facials and makeup. Waxing services, manicures, pedicures and massages are also available. Casablanca also sports a large retail product area at the front of the store. Call 818-981-3990 or visit casablancasalon.com for more information.

The New Medicine built on Ancient Salt Room Therapy Principles

We’ve all done it.

We get to the beach and we take a deep, deep breath.

It’s a reflex. It’s instinctual.

The body knows to breath this air in before the mind realizes it’s even out of the car.

Here’s what our bodies know and what our minds need to be reminded of:

Breathing dry, aerosolized salt air (tiny salt particles suspended in air) can provide broad health benefits. Allergies, chronic respiratory illnesses, skin disorders, infections and problems sleeping can all be improved by simply breathing while relaxing in the wonderful healing microclimate of a salt room.

Like many natural approaches to healing, Salt Room Therapy is relatively new in the United States, but not so in the rest of the world. The therapeutic benefits of spending time in a ‘salt room’ were rediscovered in Eastern Europe during the 19^th century. Dr. Felix Bochkowsky was responsible for occupational health in Poland in the 1840s and as with all good Public Health experts he was trained to study his surroundings. Since his responsibilities also included the mines he noticed that while metal and coal miners battled relentless, deadly respiratory ailments the workers in salt mines were healthier. In fact they were much healthier than most people in the community.

The story doesn’t start there though.

Speleotherapy, or treatments in a natural salt caves, began in ancient times. From Neolithic Italy and the priest-healers of Greece to the Indian epic ‘Ramayana” and Hungarian manuscripts from the Middle Ages we find reference after reference touting the benefits of time spent in natural salt cave microclimates. Speleotherapy is still common in parts of the world but in modern times and urban locations we more commonly refer to Halotherapy or treatment in a simulated salt environments. These simulated microclimates are obviously more convenient especially when you consider that multiple sessions are best but I won’t talk anyone out of a trip to Speleotherapy centers in Israel, Hungary or Russia. Fortunately, none of the benefits of salt room therapy are lost on Wilshire Boulevard.

The air in salt mines and simulated salt therapy rooms is permeated with negative ions, which help clear breathing passages and provide for a host of other effects. Studies have documented improvements in asthma, bronchitis, chronic ear-nose-throat conditions such as allergies and sinusitis and insomnia. Recent medical studies from Europe and Canada have shown that time spent in salt rooms can benefit other conditions such as snoring, colds, smoker’s cough and influenza. Salt room air is believed to have anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.

Time spent in salt rooms benefits the skin as well. This shouldn’t be a surprise. The skin is the largest organ and shares with the lungs the important role of interfacing with the environment every second of every day. This exposes the skin to a constant barrage of toxins. A natural way to counteract this is to expose the skin to the healing power of salt room air on a consistent basis. Studies have shown that skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis and rashes can improve but normal dry, greasy or aging skin may benefit in appearance as well.

A series of sessions is required to maximize the benefits. I recommend starting with 10-12 sessions. Some patients expand their treatments to 30 or more sessions and others have gone so far as to install salt rooms in their own homes after having experienced the transformative power of this microclimate on so many aspects of their health and wellness.

When I consider the broad benefits and the fact that so many people suffer from ailments that improve in the salt room microclimate I find myself asking everyone I meet, from patients to friends and family to commit to learning more and trying Salt Room Therapy in 2011. Read up on it. Start asking your friends and relatives about it. I’m sure you’ll find many have tried it already or are thinking about doing so. Stop by Beneveda to take a tour and chat with our staff about it. I look forward to seeing you there.

Thom E. Lobe,

M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.P., is the founder and medical director of Beneveda Medical Group in Beverly Hills, and medical director of Salt Chalet Encino, California.