GOLKI THERAPY (BONE MASSAGE)

What:

Created in 1979 by Lee Byung Chul, CEO of Yakson House beauty salon, the massage is said to help women (and men) improve their bone structure and blood circulation so as to achieve a smaller and more symmetrical face, brighter and bouncier skin, and improved wellness. It can be done on the face and body.

Yakson House has more than 100 outlets in Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines and – as of six months ago – in Singapore (#05-12A Wheelock Place, tel: 6734-8777).

“Fans of this holistic treatment include renowned Korean celebrities such as Gu Hara, Yu Ah In and Park Min Young. We also have regular clients from all over the world who visit Yakson whenever they are in Korea,” says Lee.

How:

The areas that need “re-alignment” are deeply kneaded, using lifting, pressing motions, usually for 15 minutes. The treatment is performed only by native Korean therapists who have been trained at Yakson’s headquarters in Seoul.

We will tell you this: Golki Therapy hurts. Seriously hurts. To “sharpen and give the nose a higher bridge”, the therapist pressed her thumbs into the area between our nose and eye socket super hard, to the point where we felt she was going to crush our skull or remove an eyeball. We teared. A lot.

According to Lee, it hurts more for people who don’t exercise regularly or have a balanced diet as “they have a higher buildup of waste and toxins in their bodies”.

The pain supposedly lessens with subsequent massages because “there are less toxins to drain away”.

To see results, the salon says you need about 10 sessions (done weekly or fortnightly), and 20 sessions for the “re-alignment” to become permanent.

So far, according to Yakson House’s staff here,