Samantha Dunn, a leading consultant in integrative wellness, shares detailed insights into promoting longevity in medicine.

Innovation is key to staying ahead of the competition in the world of wellness. Forget incremental tweaks or new fad ingredients – clients are increasingly seeking transformative experiences that go beyond skin deep to deliver better results with less effort in less time. The solution? Embrace the biohacking revolution and give your medispa an undeniable edge. 

What is Biohacking, exactly?

‘Biohacking’ sounds like a world of sci-fi gadgetry limited to tech nerds, which is not surprising given its origin. The term was coined in 2004 by Silicon Valley IT guru, Dave Asprey, when he was looking for solutions to his own chronic health problems.

Realising that the human body is a collection of (at least) 11 organ systems, Asprey and a growing wave of researchers set about finding ways to ‘hack’ each system to create optimal functioning of both body and mind. 

Sounds unnatural? Actually, it’s quite the opposite. Biohacking recognises Nature as the ultimate healer. All biohacking does is to create the ideal environment – internally and externally – to let every tissue and biological process thrive.

Biohacking is not one thing: it’s an umbrella term for any device or practice that facilitates optimal function. Asprey describes biohacking as “the art and science of becoming superhuman”.

How can you leverage this movement in your business? 

First, be aware that many biohacking practices come down to lifestyle. Focusing on five key pillars of exercise, nutrition, sleep, mind and work, biohacking enthusiasts use practices such as meditation, breathwork, HIIT training, intermittent fasting, supplements and journaling to improve health, reduce stress, increase productivity, amplify performance and extend life. 

However not everyone has the desire or discipline to perfect their lifestyle, and even die-hard biohackers want professional therapies that can deliver big results fast. That’s where your medispa comes in. Here are six biohacking modalities that you can use to set your spa apart and unleash your clients’ potential for health and vitality.

Diagnostics – your blueprint for personalisation

“What gets measured gets managed” is a well-accepted maxim in business, and the same applies to wellness. When seeking improvement in any aspect of health or beauty, it’s important to know your starting point. Spas have long relied on consultations and skin analysis, however there are many other diagnostics that enable additional services to create truly holistic, personalised programs for your clients.These diagnostics take two main forms: scans and lab tests. 

3D Body Scanning and Body Composition analysis provide precise baseline data to guide body improvement programs, motivate the client and track their transformation journey. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a low cost assessment that provides valuable insight into your clients’ stress response, and informs effective mind-body programs. Bodyworkers can improve their treatments using Postural and Gait Analysis, potentially partnering with physiotherapy, chiropractic or osteopathy practitioners.

Coming soon to market, AI-facilitated medical diagnostics that provide a more preventative approach to cardiovascular and brain health, allowing medispas to participate in a continuum of care. Consider partnering with a Functional Medicine doctor to stake your place at this frontier where medicine meets wellness. 

Functional medicine lab tests uncover the root cause of any health problem by looking at hormones, food intolerance, oxidative stress, heavy metals, the microbiome and DNA. These powerful diagnostic tools help you understand the unique tapestry of each client, allowing you to create highly personalised, effective programs for rejuvenation and transformation. 

Energy Therapies – the power of light and frequency

Energy therapies are revolutionising wellness, harnessing the potent energy of specific frequencies to repair, rejuvenate and revitalise. Many spas are already using LED therapy for various effects, such as red and near infra-red to stimulate collagen production or blue light to target acne-causing bacteria. But did you know that light can also be ‘injected’ via fibre optic threads? A variation on Cold or Low Level Laser, this innovative therapy was pioneered by Weber Medical and has a staggering array of applications, ranging from melting fat and promoting hair growth through to shrinking cancer tumours. 

Another therapy worth considering is Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field therapy, or PEMF. Originally developed by NASA to protect the health of astronauts in space, this innovative therapy recharges the body using Schumann Resonances – the frequencies of the Earth’s magnetic field, to stimulate circulation, promote cellular regeneration, reduce inflammation and relieve pain. 

As growing evidence nudges Energy Medicine increasingly from ‘woo woo’ to mainstream, expect to see many new devices that utilise light, sound and the spectrum of healing frequencies.

Thermal Therapies – melting away stress and warding off disease

Saunas and cold plunges have long been used to facilitate detoxification, relaxation, and vitality. However, biohackers recognise the wide-ranging health benefits of even more extreme heat and cold. If you’ve ever spent three minutes at −110°C during Whole Body Cryotherapy (WBC), you’ll appreciate the immediate boost in vitality that it provides. Originally developed for pain relief, WBC is also now widely used to reduce inflammation, expedite recovery, reboot the immune system and foster overall well-being.

At the other end of the temperature spectrum, Infrared Saunas improve on the relaxation benefits of traditional sauna by penetrating deeper into the body to also promote detoxification, and pain relief. The most extreme heat therapy, Hyperthermia, is proven to kill cancer cells, shrink tumours and boost the immune system, and so may be considered by more advanced medical spas that support oncology clients. 

Functional Fitness and Recovery – elevating physical wellbeing

Consider incorporating fitness elements to go way beyond aesthetics and optimise your clients’ physique, performance, resilience and confidence. If you think that you need a gym to do this, think again. With cutting-edge fitness tech, you can create personalised programs that enhance strength, cardio, flexibility and balance in the space of a single treatment room. Better still, your clients will get far better results in much less time. 

For example, Electro-Muscle Stimulation (EMS) uses special suits to activate all major muscles 85 times per second. That’s around 54,000 contractions in one 20-minute session – the equivalent of a 90-minute HIIT class, while being low impact, safe and effective for all ages and fitness levels. Similarly, vibration training –  another NASA-adopted innovation – also activates involuntary muscle toning, and has proven benefits including improvements in strength, physical performance, balance, flexibility and body composition.

Other machines include CAROL – an AI-personalised exercise bike that in five minutes delivers the same cardio benefits as a 45-minute run. Or BioDensity, a machine that improves bone density by 14% over 12-months with only one 5-minute workout per week.

Even if you choose not to offer exercise, you can certainly capitalise on the huge trend towards Recovery. Massage has long been the ‘go-to’ recovery service offered by spas, however if you want to include a touchless version, consider Pressotherapy. Originally developed for post-surgery in hospitals, pressotherapy devices use waves of air pressure to enhance lymphatic drainage, reduce swelling and relax muscles. 

Mind Therapies – unlocking mental well-being

Any true wellness journey must go beyond the body—it must also encompass the mind. In this realm, biohacking therapies work on both cognitive function and emotional health. Brain training devices such as NeurOptimal work by increasing connections between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, increasing the thickness of the corpus callosum to improve cognitive function, decision-making, creativity and memory. 

Other initiatives are based on the ancient practice of meditation, using technology to help calm and focus hyper-busy minds. One example is the Enkidu light, which synchronises light and sound to induce Brainwave Entrainment (BWE) and achieve deep meditation within minutes. The light creates a similar experience as LSD (altered state of consciousness), creating a mesmerising lightshow of kaleidoscopic colour that shifts with the music, boosting mood with no risk or side effects.

Another ancient practice on the verge of being approved is psychedelic medicine. Research has shown that a single carefully-administered dose of psilocybin (a compound from magic mushrooms) can have the same effect as up to ten years of psychotherapy. Watch this trend for therapies that expand consciousness, bolster mental and emotional health, and unlock profound personal growth for your clients! 

Longevity Medicine – tapping into the Fountain of Youth

While advances in non-invasive cosmetic procedures have greatly improved our clients’ aesthetics, the new frontier of Longevity Medicine is set to be a game-changer. Our future clients will not just look younger; they will biologically be younger!

According to Australian geneticist, Prof. David Sinclair, “There is no upper limit to human lifespan.” Most of the age-related deterioration we experience is due to accumulated damage to our DNA. Sinclair and his team at Harvard Medical School have discovered that every cell contains a backup copy of our at-birth DNA, and have proven in animal studies that they really can turn back time with a simple injection. 

While human trials are already planned for restoring vision, hearing loss and dementia, it will likely be 10-20 years before this technology is commercially available for overall anti-aging. In the meantime, there is a host of therapies that medical spas can leverage for rejuvenation. IV infusions are already popular, and so consider providing health-promoting upsells that can be delivered simultaneously, such as LED light therapy, PEMF or brain training. 

One device definitely worth considering is NanoVi, which involves inhaling a mist of structured water. This deceptively simple therapy is proven to help ‘re-fold’ damaged proteins, reducing biological age and repairing up to 40% of damaged DNA. 

Also focused on proteins is Peptide Therapy, in which these short chains of amino acids are being administered for wide-ranging functions, including: fat loss, immune strengthening, libido and sexual performance, healing the gut, restoring healthy skin and hair, increasing muscle mass, bone strength and more.  

Other age-reversing therapies can be offered by partnering with a functional medicine doctor, including Hormone Optimisation Therapy (HOT), which differs from traditional Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) in that it aims to not just restore youthful levels of sex hormones, but finetune the balance of hormones across all body systems to benefit stress, sleep, energy and metabolism.

Elevating your medispa to new heights

By seamlessly integrating one or more of these modalities into your medispa menu, you’ll not only give your spa a competitive edge, but also provide clients with the transformative experiences they crave. The biohacking revolution continues to gain momentum, so embrace these modalities to stay at the forefront and watch your medispa thrive.

This article originally appeared in SPA+CLINIC 96.

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