Enzyme spas offer hot, claustrophobic way to detox

I’m buried in enzymes during an enzyme spa treatment. [WOO JI-WON]

[GIVE IT A GO]

Got buried alive.

 

Don’t worry. I’m still breathing. It’s all part of one of Korea’s latest wellness trends, the enzyme spa, a Japan-born treatment now gaining traction among young people in Korea looking to cleanse from the inside out.

 

Over the past few months, I have seen posts, mostly from women in their 30s, submerged up to their necks in enzyme mixtures, sweating out as a “better” alternative to saunas for detoxifying and improving skin.

 

Instagram posts show people trying enzyme spas. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 

It looked like the most interesting, or perhaps bizarre, wellness trend I’d come across in a while. So there I was, stripped down to a hair cap and disposable underwear, preparing to be buried on purpose.

 

And trust me, it wasn’t easy to book. Many places in Seoul were fully booked for weeks, a sign of just how popular the treatment has become.

 

After several calls, I secured a slot at a spa in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, that has been running for over a decade.

 

Once I was seated, a staff member in a sauna shirt gave me a quick rundown of what an enzyme spa is. The 65,000 won ($45) treatment basically uses rice bran and other ingredients — in this case, four, including green tea and Siberian ginseng — to produce natural heat of around 60 to 70 degrees Celsius (140 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit) through fermentation. The warmth, produced without artificial heat, is said to improve circulation, flush out toxins, enhance skin health and reduce swelling.

 

She then guided me to a locker room that looked like a mini sauna. While some enzyme spas have visitors wear sauna clothes or something to cover the body for the treatment, I was told to remove everything but a hair cap and underwear, both of which were provided. Catching my reflection in the mirror, I couldn’t help but laugh, a little out of embarrassment, though I was alone.

 

A locker room for changing [WOO JI-WON]

 

After changing, I stepped into what would be today’s “wellness” — a dimly lit space where four deep wooden boxes sat on worn floors. The air was humid but not overwhelming.

 

And the enzyme smell wasn’t as bad as I expected. Some people compared it to fermented soybean paste, but to me it smelled more like warm barley tea.

 

A staff member guided me to one of the boxes, where a human-shaped indentation had already been prepared. From afar, it could be mistaken for someone climbing into their own casket, waiting for a henchman to shovel the dirt. Part of me played along, lying down and putting on a face of mixed emotions.

 

I was completely covered, with only my face out to breathe. 

 

The temperature hovered around 62 or 63 degrees Celsius, which felt nice and toasty at first. Earlier in the day, it can reach up to 70 degrees. The texture was soft like sand dough.

 

A room where I was left alone for the enzyme spa treatment [WOO JI-WON]

 

“You can take your arms out if it gets too suffocating,” the staff member said, before setting a 15-minute timer and leaving the room. Pssh, I’ll be fine, I thought. Some places even go for 20 minutes or more.

 

For the first few minutes, it was really fine. Warm like being inside a dry sauna.

 

After some time, though, the heat crept in and became quite suffocating. With the enzyme weighing on me, my chest started to feel heavy, a new and deeply uncomfortable sensation.

 

My heels started to hurt as well, which the staff later explained was due to pressure points where blood vessels pass through. My hands and feet also grew hotter than the rest, which she said happens to areas with poorer circulation. It made sense, as mine usually run cold.

 

Wooden containers are filled with enzymes. [WOO JI-WON]

 

But with nothing to do, my mind, dramatic as ever, quickly drifted to worst-case scenarios. Having the room to myself had felt lucky at first, but the claustrophobia crept in fast.

 

Then thankfully, the staff member came in to check on me.

 

“How much time is left?” I asked. “Five minutes,” she said, already turning her back on me. I wanted to ask more questions, anything to keep her there, but she was out the door before I could.

 

And I think she may have lied, because those five minutes felt much longer than the 10 minutes that had passed. 

 

By then, it felt like the enzyme was slowly consuming me. And with sweat rolling down my face, it was so itchy I wanted to scratch. But I held back. Otherwise, I’d be a weak loser, I told myself.

 

Finally, the sound I had been waiting for went off, calling the staff back to rescue me.

 

Standing up revealed how much of the enzyme had clung to my body. I brushed it off over a vinyl sheet laid on the floor. My heart was pounding hard, and I felt slightly dizzy, which the staffer said was normal as circulation increases.

 

Shower room [WOO JI-WON]

 

I was then to shower with only hot water to keep the warmth. It hardly felt like a shower, as I kept sweating anyway. 

 

The session continued with a vaginal steam chair, a wooden seat with a hole for lower-body steaming to help with blood vessel dilation and toxin release. I was also given a cup of hot rooibos tea, though I barely touched it. 

 

A vaginal steam chair used used after the enzyme treatment [WOO JI-WON]

 

The chair felt like sitting on a broken car seat heater that had blasted past its maximum temperature, and only then did I discover that day that my bottom could sweat, too.

 

I then moved to another room to receive a leg massager, a heated jade compress and a face mask to finish. Each spa differs in what comes before and after the enzyme treatment, and prices range from 35,000 won to 100,000 won. Some include foot baths or saunas.

 

The full experience, including getting myself ready to head out, lasted about 90 minutes.

 

I receive a leg massage with a heated jade compress on my stomach and a face mask in the massage room. [WOO JI-WON]

 

Despite warnings that the enzyme smell can linger until the next day, I didn’t notice it much, though I stayed self-conscious all day.

 

While it was a windy day, I felt hot internally. I had to open the bus window to cool down. The warmth lingered far longer than a regular sauna. The results — whether detoxification or improved skin — were quite hard to measure, though, for just a one-day experience.

 

But for those who enjoy saunas and are curious to try something new, enzyme spas offer a distinct way to sweat out. But maybe don’t go solo. Being alone in a room, buried inside what resembles a casket, can get very horror movie–like.

BY WOO JI-WON [[email protected]]