Sue Sitter/PCT Magnolia Wellness and Detox Spa owner Teresa Block stands near salt lamps and other products offered by her business.

Rugby’s Magnolia Wellness and Detox Spa has added new services to its line of alternative health products and treatments.

Teresa Block, who owns the spa with her husband, Jerry, told the Tribune the spa opened in November 2017 to provide alternative, chemical-free solutions to health and wellness matters.

Block and Patricia Pfeifer are at the spa Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Hours sometimes vary depending on the season.

Block was on hand recently to describe several of the services the spa offers, many of them based on removing toxins from people’s bodies or home environments.

Block walked into a room with soft white walls and large windows. Pointing to what looked like large, black briefcases, she said, “This is our AmpCoil system. It’s P.E.M.F. (pulsed electromagnetic field) technology.” Block referred to literature from the system’s manufacturer, which describes how the sound waves “based on Tesla technology” create an electromagnetic field to “penetrate deeply into the body.”

Block picked up a tablet computer, which controls the system and contains programs that target health concerns such as insomnia, nutrition, and neutralizing toxins in the body.

Block explained the system begins with a voice analysis. ” It can pick up the sharps and flats in your voice the same technology the FBI uses in lie detectors,” she said. The analysis determines areas needing work, and can be used again after the P.E.M.F. sessions are finished. Block said the system also features sixty alternative health programs that don’t require voice analysis.

“You can build things up, or get rid of them, through frequency work, or you can get rid of heavy metal toxicity. You can get rid of leaky gut. You can get rid of all kinds of things. I’ve been using this since (last) April, and I wouldn’t get rid of it for all the money you couldn’t pay me enough to get rid of it,” Block smiled. “So, I love this.”

Block said the system also targets anxiety, depression and brain health.

“Positivity, higher self, deep sleep,” she said, scrolling through the tablet. “Having problems sleeping? Come in in the morning, and get deep sleep, then have a good sleep that night,” she said.

Next to the room, Block pointed out two chairs in a warmly lit corner. “Over here, we have our foot detoxes. We do two out here, and we can also do them in our salt room. The big one, of course here, is detoxing the liver. But, it activates (treats) viruses, bacteria, yeast and fungus,” she indicated, pointing to cards posted on the wall.

Block said feet provide an effective pathway to purge toxins because “we have 4,000 large pores in our feet.”

As the pores open, Block said, calcium channels open in the body, and these channels provide pathways for toxins to be eliminated.

Block listed several benefits to the foot detox, including lymphatic drainage and decreasing inflammation and excess water. “I’ve had quite a few people with diabetic neuropathy come in, and their foot pain is gone,” she noted.

Block cautioned the alternative therapies are not recommended for people with implanted medical devices such as insulin pumps and pacemakers. In addition, she said, since the foot detoxes rid the body of heavy metals and trace minerals, they are not recommended for patients on blood thinning medications. “And this indiscriminately pulls all of them out of you,” she said.

Himalayan salt crystals, which are used in the foot detox and other services, work to neutralize a person’s environment and body by adding negative ions, which stop the damage done by positive ions in the environment.

“So positive ions have a negative effect. That’s exactly the opposite (of what people think),” she said. “The positive ones make us acidotic, and that’s what causes inflammation and disease.”

Other therapies that involve the salt crystals include a salt therapy, or halo therapy room, which glows with salt lamps. Saunas also incorporate the salt pink salt slabs sit on their floors. Block noted the salt therapy room is not intended for people in the end stages of diseases.

Services involving the use of mats apply various principles such as infrared heat and heat conducted by gemstones. Magnolia Wellness and Detox Spa also uses a three-zone sauna blanket and pneumatic lymphatic drainage system.

Block recently introduced a new service Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging.

“This is our thermography room,” she said, opening a door to black screens and computer equipment. “Over at the hospital, their x ray machines and MRIs look at the structure of the body. This looks at physiology and function,” Block explained.

“This is based on the sympathetic nervous system, and all your organs are enervated by the sympathetic nervous system, but also from that organ comes an enervation to the skin’s surface (which creates a unique area of temperature).”

“Then, the doctors who are reading (the image), who are medical doctors trained to read these, they know which part of your body correlates to which organ, and to your breast,” Block continued. “And they’re looking for color patterns, and dissimilarities. So, they’re cutting your body (image) in half, and are looking for dissimilarities between the two halves, except for the breasts. Breasts are like fingerprints; no two are alike.”

Block said the imaging technology is especially helpful for breast health diagnosis, but the service is available for all sections of the body. Prices vary according to area scanned.

Block said Magnolia Wellness and Detox Spa also offers an array of alternative health products such as essential oils, alternative health equipment and Himalayan salt lamps. The spa also features shelves lined with coffees, teas, and completely chemical-free cleaning products that tackle everything from wiping surfaces to washing laundry.

Block said Magnolia Wellness and Detox Spa will hold an essential oils class today from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Cost is $25, which will cover oils to make and take home.

Magnolia Wellness and Detox Spa is located at 411 4th St. SW.