Holistic health services in Newport Beach allow you to embrace overall wellness with alternative therapies.
By Ashley Ryan
Everyone is aware that fitness and nutrition play a huge role in keeping your body healthy and happy. But more and more holistic practices are popping up in Orange County, using alternative therapies that are said to enhance and heal not just the physical body, but the mental, emotional and spiritual parts of the whole. From float tanks and cryotherapy to vitamin injections, IV treatments and oxygen chambers, there’s something to aid with any ailment—though you can also take advantage if it’s just to improve your mood and movement as well.
Floating Fine
The first float tank was developed in the 1950s in an effort to study sensory deprivation, but it has since expanded into the wellness market, serving as a way to both relax your mind and take some of the physical strain off your body.
Newport Float Therapy in nearby Costa Mesa dissolves roughly 1,000 pounds of Epsom salts in its Float Lab chambers, which allows the body to become weightless. Between that and the benefits from the salt, float therapy can assist with back and joint pain, muscle regeneration and headache relief in addition to lowering blood pressure, reducing inflammation and boosting the immune system. But, by removing outside distractions, these tanks become the ideal setting for meditation, helping to enhance creativity, problem solving, mental clarity, alertness and more while also combating everything from stress, anxiety and depression to addiction. Take advantage of the center’s monthly or yearly memberships to incorporate floating into your regular routine.
Cold Cure
Extreme cold is used to treat physical ailments as well, with services like cryotherapy and cold plunges infiltrating the market. Of course, don’t stay in the cold for too long and make sure to consult a doctor before trying any alternative treatments to make sure they are safe for you, especially if you have any underlying conditions.
At Newport’s Cryo Recovery Lounge, cryotherapy is just one of the treatments offered. “We say that we’re Orange County’s premier wellness destination, because we are kind of an all-in-one stop,” says Tiffany Monroe, the spa manager and lead therapist at Cryo Recovery Lounge. “… The most popular is the cryotherapy.”
Enjoy a salt room, infrared sauna, mild hyperbaric oxygen chamber, sculpting and body contouring, Normatec compression massage, cryo plunge tub or hydration facials at this wellness hub. But cryotherapy remains the company’s focus—especially given that its sister company, Cryo Innovations, specializes in selling the chambers to chiropractic offices, elite athlete training facilities and other wellness centers across the country.
Once in the chamber, the treatment, using nitrogen, lasts for three minutes at minus 220 degrees. “The whole purpose of it is to put all of your blood … to your core, kind of like you’re going into freezing mode [or] starvation mode,” Monroe explains. “And then, after you get out, everything rushes back to your extremities, so it’s really good for the circulation. That’s how the soreness gets relieved—that’s how you get circulation to areas that are injured—and … it also helps with nerve health, with bone health or just with overall tiredness.” One session is also said to burn between 300 and 800 calories.
A number of other Newport Beach-based wellness centers offer cryotherapy services as well, including MojoCryo and Restore Hyper Wellness, both of which offer localized treatments to target specific parts of the body and cryofacials as well as whole body therapies.
The power of the freezing cold extends beyond cryo treatments though, with plunge pools set at around 36 degrees popping up at wellness centers, spas and even for individual purchase. “Cold plunges are all the rage right now,” Monroe notes. “… People are putting them in their homes in place of bathtubs. It doesn’t have to be hooked up to a water line; it constantly filters water through and keeps it chilled with a chiller. So people put them in their backyards or on their patios.”
Carrying Oxygen
A number of different therapies are available at O2 Health Lab near Fashion Island, but the center is best known for its hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which uses increased atmospheric pressure in a chamber, allowing the oxygen to permeate the body through fluids and plasma so that it can be carried to more areas and, in turn, help heal the body. This type of therapy delivers up to 25 times more oxygen to body tissue and can speed up healing or recovery by as much as 50% while promoting regeneration, clearing out toxins, decreasing inflammation, stimulating capillary growth and boosting immune system; it can also improve things like range of motion, stem cell growth and blood flow. During the lab’s hourlong treatments, which are called “dives,” participants can watch a movie or listen to music while breathing normally in a chamber with higher-than-average air pressure.
This service is also offered at Cryo Recovery Lounge, with the chamber set at around 30% atmospheric pressure. Treatments last for about an hour, during which oxygen levels to the brain rise and plasma production increases. “For anyone post-surgery, [with] bruising, any kind of brain fog, jet lag, hangovers [or] coming off of medications, it really helps get rid of that in a couple of sessions,” Monroe adds.
IVs and Injectables
While proper nutrition is always important for nourishing the body, vitamin injections and IV therapies can also be a great way to cleanse your body, get hydrated or add much needed nutrients like vitamins, minerals or amino acids.
In addition to its cryo services, Restore Hyper Wellness specializes in everything from IV drip therapy and intramuscular shots to NAD+ treatments, all of which can boost energy levels. While the drips can take up to 90 minutes—and pair the nutrients with a liter of saline to ensure proper hydration—the injectables are delivered directly into the muscles in a process that takes about five minutes and, from there, they are gradually absorbed into the bloodstream.
Boost Hydration offers similar services, with an extensive IV drip menu that touches on everything from fitness recovery, migraine relief, anti-aging and better sleep to hangover cures, cold and flu therapy, and PMS treatment. The center also creates its own blends of vitamin injections, which range from Good Mood Boost and Antioxidant Recharge to Super Lean Me and Anti-Stress Defense.
Dr. Nirvana Tehranian, a licensed naturopathic doctor who aims to make these holistic services more attainable, hosts a unique vitamin shot bar on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at her Newport office. “Unfortunately, conventional medicine has made health care not as accessible as it should be,” she explains. “I think that, nowadays, people are tired of being ignored and want easier solutions to feeling better. B vitamins are an excellent, natural alternative toward boosting energy levels and feeling better.”
According to Tehranian, these shots are ideal because they bypass the stomach and are absorbed fully into the bloodstream. “I tailor them with specific B vitamins that feed the adrenals, the central nervous system and hormone health,” she says, adding that one of the most popular amongst her clients is the Mega shot, which features the highest dose of B vitamins to offer the biggest boost to energy levels.
Other options are a vitamin B12 shot as well as specialty blends like the Glow, Fat Burner and Immune Booster therapies; Tehranian’s additional services include custom IV drips in addition to holistic treatment of hormone imbalance, hair loss, endometriosis, neurodegenerative disease, blood sugar imbalance, thyroid issues and gut health problems.
Whichever services appeal to you most, dive right into these alternative, holistic therapies to hasten healing and feel your best all year round.
