New York spa offers Kegel clinics

By Edith Honan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After giving birth to her second child, Alisande noticed troublesome looseness in her pelvic area even though she is only 38 and describes herself as a fitness enthusiast.

And so the surgical technician from New York booked an appointment at the new Phit spa -- short for pelvic health integrated techniques. The spa calls itself the first of its kind devoted exclusively to examining, toning, tightening and grooming what it calls women's "other face."

"I was concerned about my overall toning down by my vagina," said Alisande, who asked that her last name not be published for privacy reasons.

She signed up for the spa's signature Kegel Phitness Check, a $150 training session in Kegeling -- a squeezing exercise that works a woman's pelvic floor muscles. She also purchased a KegelMaster, an $85 tube-like devise fitted with springs that she described as "resistance training for your vagina."

"It's sex and it's also for me. I just wanted to feel strong down there," said Alisande.

She now says she feels better and enjoys sex more.

The spa, which opened last month a few doors down from the gynecologic practice of its founder, Dr. Lauri Romanzi, specializes in nonsurgical vaginal rejuvenation and is part of a trend that has led more women to tinker with their genital area.

"For women, the pelvis, it's your core," Romanzi told Reuters in a recent interview at Phit, located in a commercial building in midtown Manhattan.