Spas aren’t just about relaxing. They’ve become a place for healing, too.

Liz Ankeny, an esthetician at Essential Life Spa, said spas aren’t all about relaxing and pampering. They’re also a key source for skin treatment.

Estheticians like Ankeny can treat things like acne or sun damage, and one of the biggest things they treat is wrinkles and aging.

“A lot of people don’t know that that’s out there yet,” Ankeny said. Many people, Ankeny said, would go to a dermatologist first.

When she’s focused more on healing, Ankeny said she uses more products to help heal the skin.

“A treatment is a little bit more aggressive,” she said.

Most customers still prefer the simple relaxing techniques, but Ankeny said they can have both. When treating wrinkles, she said she’ll massage a person’s hands or feet.

“It’s very relaxing at the same time,” she said.

Along with facial treatments, Ankeny said massages are a positive way for people to deal with injuries. Many runners will get massages to ready their muscles for a marathon or to help heal injuries.

“A lot of people see massages as a little getaway or relaxing,” she said.

Massages can be used for fibromyalgia, migraines and even prenatal symptoms.

“It’s kind of that next step before they have to go see a physician or a chiropractor,” she said.