Most people in Wisconsin attempt to avoid the cold when possible. A new business in Wausau, however, is betting on people seeking out the cold for its significant health benefits.
Since Sept. 19, the husband-and-wife teams of Jason and Jessica Mack and Kyle and Hanna Hunter have been overseeing the Vitality Bar in downtown Wausau. The medical spa and alternative and holistic health service site utilizes the medical backgrounds of Jessica, Jason, and Kyle as well as Hanna Hunter’s entrepreneurial skills in this new health enterprise.
“This particular idea started around seven or eight months ago,” Kyle Hunter says. “We had been talking about it loosely for a year or two years, this itch of wanting to venture out and do something that we can call our own you know, but we weren’t really sure what that was.”
Putting the Vitality Bar into action
At first, the plan was to put together a mobile clinic for IV hydration. As the quartet chatted, they realized several other services were not available in the Wausau area. Apart from IV therapy, people can utilize Vitality Bar’s infrared saunas, Botox, red-light therapy, and even whole-body cryotherapy.
With cryotherapy, the human body gets exposed to temperatures as low as minus 220 degrees Fahrenheit for about three minutes (this is lower than the coldest temperature recorded on Earth as of this story’s filing). This can help with muscle aches, joint pain and inflammation. For Jason Mack, it is their highlight and one no one should be afraid of.
“A lot of sports teams are starting to use it,” he says. “It is similar to cold showers or ice baths. Your endorphins and everything kind of kick in. When you get out, it all rushes back to your extremities. In the machine, you have to wear a hat, socks, and gloves to avoid getting frostbite.”
Reception
Right now, customer buzz is high. The Macks and Hunters are enjoying the process and are also open to new ideas for services they might add.
“If you said ‘Oh, have you looked into X, Y, Z?’ sure we would look into it,” Jessica Mack says. “All of our stuff is research-based and research-supported, it is affordable and we even have a really nice relaxation room people can come into in order to create more of that spa feeling.”
Vitality Bar is located at 501 N. 3rd Street. More information about it can be found on the Vitality Bar, LLC Facebook page. It is open 10 am to 6 pm Tuesdays through Saturdays. The business logo with various colored drops represents their heat services, cold therapies, and IV hydration and is in a circle to touch on “continuous self-care and wellness from the inside and outside” they hope to help people with.
Evan J. Pretzer is a freelance contributor to City Pages. He can be reached at evanjpretzer.com or [email protected].
