At Daengki Spa in Koreatown, LA, you can get a 45-minute V-Herbal Therapy for $20 per, well, squat. The steam includes a mixture of herbs imported from Korea by spa manager Jin Young, and according to the spa’s website the treatment will “rid the body of toxins” and help women with menstrual cramps, bladder infections, kidney problems and fertility issues. “It is a traditional Korean health remedy,” according to their website, which may be true, but the toxins it is supposed to purge don’t exist, and the treatment has no health benefits whatsoever.
So what, precisely, is V-Herbal Therapy? V-Herbal Therapies, or chai-yok, are vaginal steam baths, and according to the shit that falls out of the mouths of Young and his associates it will reduce stress, fight infections, clear hemorrhoids, regulate menstrual cycles and aid infertility, among many other health benefits. It is magic woo, and it is supported by all the appeals to ancient Eastern wisdom you can imagine.
It’s not the only place in Southern California where you can experience this particular kind of woo. The Tikkun Holistic Spa in Santa Monica, run by Niki Han Schwarz and her husband Charles, offers a 30-minute V-Steam treatment for $50 – and they offer an identical treatment for men. According entirely to Niki herself, the treatment worked for her.
It has received the endorsed for instance of Tae-Cheong Choo, who teaches at Samra University of Oriental Medicine in LA. Samra University is, needless to say, not a learning institution. According to Choo, the treatment is effective for gynecological problems and infertility. Choo cites no evidence to back up that claim.
Diagnosis: It is hard to believe that these people are acting in good faith, and the treatment they endorse is based on delusions and bullshit, through and through. And no, it isn’t just innocent stupidity. The people in question are part of a large horde of shitheads who make a living out of preying on the stupid, gullible or desperate. Shame.