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Spas

5 wacky spa treatments

By Fox News
Published | Updated

Could smearing gold, honey, dirt, wine – or even bird poo – on our bodies be the key to a youthful glow?

FoxNews.com rounded up some quirky hotel spas that are ditching traditional facial and massage routines in favor of odd ways to cut stress. While skeptics call it kooky, some therapists swear these latest treatments rid out toxins, make our skin glow and leave us feeling super relaxed.

Travelers with an open mind (and maybe a strong stomach) can look into booking one of these wacky spa treatments to unwind.

1. Hammer Treatment – Lake Austin Spa, Austin, Texas

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(Lake Austin Spa Resort)

Possible benefits: Relax the body and restore calm.

The Manaka Tapping treatment, which lasts 50 minutes, goes back to ancient times and is literally hard to beat – because it involves softly tapping acupressure points with a wooden hammer and peg. It combines acupuncture, herbology and a little bit of carpentry to help guests unwind.

2. Eye Butter Bath – Ananda Spa, Narendranagar, India

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(Flickr/Day Foy)

Possible benefits: relieve eyestrain, improve eyesight and improve eye disorders.

Many travelers opt for some shuteye after a long trip, and this spa treatment takes the concept to a whole new level. The Tarpana treatment is supposed to have a cooling effect on irritated and stressed eyes. A dough ring is put around the eyeballs before a medicated ghee (clarified butter) is poured over the eyes. Guests blink a few times before the fluid is drained.

3. Aura Wrap – The Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville, N.C.

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(The Omni Grove Park Inn)

Possible benefits: Relax the body and help achieve balance and harmony.

Travelers searching for out-of-this-world healing treatments can try the Color and Light Wrap with Aura Imaging. A photo is taken with an aura imaging camera to show energies and auras in the guest, and then the spa designs a treatment to help “adjust the aura” to make it more balanced. Treatment includes an exfoliation and detoxifying clay body wrap and music, light, heat and aromatherapies.

4. Blood Type Treatment – Cool Spa at Sri Panwa, Phuket, Thailand

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(Flickr/Andrew Mason)

Possible benefits: Relaxation and skin rejuvenation.

Blood Type Therapy is a series of body scrubs, masks and massages designed specifically for the personalities of A, B, AB and O blood types. Critics may call it BS, but therapists in Thailand swear it’s an effective way to treat stress. For example, guests with blood type A get a deep stress massage to target underlying tension and a body scrub to encourage circulation.

5. Bird Poo Facial – Shizuka New York Day Spa, New York City

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(Shizuka)

Possible benefits: Brighten and cleanse the skin.

Pooped-out travelers can now rave about the benefits of bird dung. Shizuka, near some of the world’s most famous hotels, made headlines in 2013 with this treatment, which involves sanitizing powdered nightingale droppings, mixing them with Japanese rice bean and applying it to the race. Now trademarked as the Geisha Facial, this one-hour treatment is still flying high.

6. Talking Tree Treatment – Spa at The Boulders Resort, Carefree, Ariz.

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(Facebook/Spa at The Boulders Resort)

Possible benefits: Better focus and mental clarity

Talk about going out on a limb. In this spa experience, guests book a one-hour reading with the spa’s resident shaman to learn how to create balance and live a better life, and they “listen to a tree” to gain insight on how to de-stress.