Wellness-boosting trends on the rise worldwide, in SWFL

Now, more than ever, people look for ways to look and feel their best.

And that’s translated into many wellness technologies hitting the marketplace. Consumer experts predict it will generate $1.5 trillion in global sales in the coming years.

Some of them used to be reserved for medical or rehab settings.

Restore Hyper Wellness in Estero is the latest business built on boosting your well-being.

“We offer 13 different types of hyper wellness modalities; they’re all inspired by nature,” said Katie Kupser.

Core services utilize things like air, light and temperature, delivering them with cutting-edge technology.

“Everything that we’re rolling out to our clients is something that’s completely backed by a lot of clinical studies,” Kupser said.

Like hyperbaric oxygen therapy where clients are zipped into a personal chamber.

“Essentially, you’re in here for about an hour and 20 minutes breathing about 90 to 95% pure oxygen through a nasal cannula,” said Lauren Marshall. “The chambers pressurized up and down. And what the pressure is doing is also saturating your tissues.”

There’s a lot of science behind this, air contains 21% oxygen: a hyperbaric chamber allows you to breathe a much higher concentration. In a general medical setting it’s used to decompress the lungs, fight infections and promote wound healing.

The FDA has approved it for these and clinicians find it has additional benefits.

“Great for just mental clarity, cognitive thinking, healing, a lot of people use it for long term COVID effects, mold toxicity, recovering post-surgery,” Marshall said.

This is one of those therapies that until recently was only found in a rehab setting: infrared light treatments also overlap the medical space.

It’s been studied for treatment of high blood pressure, heart failure, dementia, diabetes and arthritis.

Results vary, with the health benefits on part with a sauna, minus the heat.

“The infrared light heats your body internally versus the space around you,” Marshall said.

Cryotherapy is a cool trend right now. It is a full-body, sub-zero immersion.

“It starts at negative 166. And then the highest level is negative 220,” Marshall said.

The FDA hasn’t cleared or approved it, but using cold or ice on an injury or after strenuous sports is nothing new.

“Many, many, many years ago, people would just go jump in the frozen lakes. So Cryotherapy is like our modern version of that,” Kupser said.

The therapy is based on science that extreme cold decreases blood flow which can decrease swelling and lower pain.

It has not been proved to cure anything and there is some concern that the big chill might be too much for some.

WINK News’ Amy Oshier gave it a try.

While she counted down the seconds, she said, she came out of it feeling really good.

There is a screening before going in. In fact, several treatments are given by on-site registered nurses, including the IV drops.

“You’re getting really hydrated from the saline. And then we’ve got a really extensive menu of different types of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, everything like that antioxidants. And each of those things can help support different areas of your body,” Kupser said.

This new breed of spa-like services are moving the needle.

“A big part of what we do is use those modalities in combination to help provide a lot of relief to people’s lives, to help them more on their wellness journey,” Kupser said.