In a recent podcast, actress and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow revealed the weirdest treatment she’s tried recently was ‘rectal ozone therapy’. Along with the rest of the world, we scratched our heads and uttered a collective, “huh?”
What on earth (and atmosphere) is rectal ozone therapy?!
WATCH: The trailer for Gwyneth’s The Goop Lab
Appearing on The Art of Being Well, Gwyneth told host Will Cole: “I have used ozone therapy, rectally. It’s weird. But it’s been very helpful!”
Gwyneth admits she will try just about anything — and this is far from the first time she’s shocked the general public with outrageous wellness habits.
What else has piqued her curiosity?
Rectal ozone therapy
What sounds utterly ludicrous is actually not unheard of in the medical community. Ozone has a long history of use and there has been research conducted into its ability to treat various ailments, from diabetes to COVID-19.
Having said that, due to the unstable nature of the gas, administration is risky. It is also not accepted by health authorities as a medical treatment and is commonly agreed to be toxic.
Let’s just say having an unstable gas shot up your nethers is, um, questionable, to say the least.
Also, before you start thinking ozone is just air plucked from our polluted atmosphere, think again.
Ozone is a gas of three bound oxygen atoms, known as O3. This is why you might also hear ozone therapy referred to as O3 therapy.
We can’t imagine why Gwyneth gave this controversial treatment a whirl, but it is largely used by believers as an antibacterial agent.
Some claim it can ‘purify’ and detox your system and assist with immune defense.
Vaginal steaming
If you’ve followed Gwyneth and the Goop journey, you’re probably familiar with the vaginal steaming controversy. It is as it sounds, the process of steaming inside your vaginal with a herb-infused steam.
“The first time I tried v-steaming, I was like, This is insane. My friend Ben brought me and I was like, ‘You are out of your f**king mind. What is this?’,” Gwyneth told The Cut.
“But then by the end of it I was like, ‘This is so great.’ Then I start to do research, and it’s been in Korean medicine for thousands of years and there are real healing properties. If I find benefit to it and it’s getting a lot of page views, it’s a win-win.”
However, medical professionals quickly debunked any purported benefits of this risky practice. It can alter your vaginal pH, leaving you vulnerable to infection, and also can be a serious burn hazard.
Bee venom therapy
Gwyneth isn’t the only celeb to tout the benefits of bee venom. Kate Middleton and Victoria Beckham are also among its rumoured fans. So, what is bee venom therapy?
Also known as apitherapy, bee venom or bee sting therapy is an alternative therapy thought to ease a variety of complaints. Perhaps its biggest ‘claim to fame’ is its purported anti-inflammatory properties.
On her website, Goop, Gwyneth claimed bee venom therapy was responsible for making an old injury “disappear”.
There are definite risks involved, and in 2018 a woman died from organ failure resulting from apitherapy, administered as live bee acupuncture.
Also, let’s spare a thought for the bees, several species of which are endangered.
Bio frequency stickers
Apparently, there are patches that can change the way you feel and function.
According to Goop, everybody operates at an ideal energy frequency, and yours may be a bit off-kilter. If you are to believe Gwyn, this can be solved by a sticker.
In a claim that has since been removed from the website, Goop originally stated the stickers were made from the same material NASA used to line space-suits.
NASA refuted this claim and discredited the idea entirely.
Goat’s milk cleanse
In 2017, a Women’s Health profile of Paltrow revealed the actress recently finished an eight-day goat’s milk cleanse, intended to fend off internal parasites.
During the “cleanse”, you drink nothing but the goat’s milk and a prescribed dose of herbs for just over a week. This is believed by some to draw out the parasites, which feed on the milk, and then kill them off (via the herbs).
Why goat’s milk, you may ask?
“The treatment requires milk of some kind to draw the parasites out, and I prescribe goat milk because it has been found to be the closest to mother’s milk (they have a very similar pH) and less allergenic than cow milk,” the founder of the cleanse told Goop.
Ear seeds
Ear seeds follow a similar logic to acupuncture but without the needles.
The tiny ‘seeds’ are stuck to pressure points in your ear. This is alleged to improve energy flow through your body and alleviate certain pains and ailments, including stress, sleeplessness, headaches and so on.
Vampire facial
The name alone is enough to put a lot of people off this surprisingly common skin treatment.
A vampire facial – also known as a platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy – involves having your own blood injected back into your skin.
Essentially, a vial of your blood is placed in a centrifuge which separates it into its three key parts: Plasma, platelets and red blood cells. The platelet part is key to the vampire facial.
It is thought the platelets, when applied to the skin, improve cell turnover. The idea is that a vampire facial will plump your face and smooth your skin, plus reduce fine lines and pigmentation.
The treatment is popular in South Korea and the United States, and is considered by some as a natural alternative to filler.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
