Useful information: Medical tourism. Caves that heal

Entertaining speleology. Part 2

The second group of experiments was carried out in 1980 by students of the Moscow Medical Institute under the guidance of psychiatrist and specialist in space medicine A. Lebedev in the complex Snezhnaya system on the Bzyb massif (Georgia).

Over the course of a month, the athletes had to descend to a depth of 760 m, rise to the surface and complete an extensive observation program.

The experiment took place “out of time” (only the leader had a watch). A number of interesting features emerged: when overcoming particularly difficult sections, time was “compressed” (13 hours were estimated by different participants at 3-5); in underground base camps, extended or shortened days were formed (54-20 hours); Despite this, there was no “disorder” in the physiological processes and mental state of the athletes.

Positive emotions contributed to the activation of nervous and physical work due to additionally produced hormones. With high mental mobilization, pain sensitivity was dulled, blood clotting time was shortened, and the healing of damaged skin was shortened.

Physiological functions, inhibited along the route, were completely restored in the underground camps: sleep was deep, almost without dreams. But on the surface there was a psychological release: the participants in the experiment were overcome by disturbing dreams - falling into a stream, falling into a well.

Many of them were sick, which is largely due to a decrease in immunity to the rich terrestrial bacterial microflora.

One of the longest medical and biological expeditions (70 days) was the descent into the Snezhnaya cave in 1982-1983, carried out by employees of the Department of Normal Physiology of the Peoples' Friendship University (headed by Prof. N. Agadzhanyan).

Four people (including doctor V. Eshchenko), descending to a depth of 1320 m, carried out a large volume of search and biomedical (measurement of temperature, amount of fluid drunk, blood tests, psychophysical tests) research.

The materials obtained gave a lot of new information to specialists. Well, it is interesting for non-specialists to know that speleologists lived according to “extended” 50-hour days; that the average value of the “well-being + activity + mood” score varied according to a sinusoid with maximums on the 4th, 12, 18, 26, 34 and 48 days and minimums on the 6th, 15, 23, 26 and 38 days; that in the first 23 days of the expedition, the “subjective minute” test showed a slight (5-8 s) acceleration, and on the 24th day - an abrupt deceleration (the real minute was estimated at 100-110 s).

Readaptation to terrestrial conditions took quite a long time - 3-4 weeks. All participants in the expedition experienced a disturbance in water and salt metabolism, loss of blood plasma and calcium salts; muscle strength decreased, performance decreased (a 24-hour day was not enough); Small wounds, almost healed in the cave, festered for a long time...

Processing of materials obtained on the ground, underground and in space revealed general patterns: when “switched off” from the usual terrestrial conditions, the accuracy of time estimation is disrupted: on the 12th day of the experiment, the two-minute interval is estimated almost exactly (122-125 s), on 25 -e - increases to 150 s, on the 70th - up to 300 s; The duration of 7-hour sleep is estimated at 9, 13 and 16 hours, respectively.

Instant “lapses” into deep sleep are observed, which are equally dangerous for an athlete (reliability of insurance), for a car driver, train driver, pilot or astronaut.

A person’s adaptive capabilities to change rhythms are limited: he cannot get used to days shorter than 12 and longer than 52 hours.

For a particular person, they are largely determined by the “energy cost of the day” - the number of calories consumed under normal conditions. If the researcher is content with 2200 kcal, then he will be able to adapt to days shorter than 24 hours; if he consumes more than 3800 kcal, he can only lengthen his days, since shortening them means for him to exceed the normal hourly energy expenditure, which would lead to overexertion.

So, perhaps, teams of astronauts and speleologists will soon be staffed not only for scientific, physiological and psychological reasons, but also taking into account their “appetite”.

Underground for health

The belief that life underground brings eternal youth, health and longevity is a thing of the past. In the 4th century. BC e. In the region of Pergamon (Asia Minor), an underground temple of the healing god Asclepius is being built. Its surviving part consists of two 50-meter tunnels and a large hall with columns.

You can read about the beneficial effects of caves on health in many ancient treatises of the East.

The healing properties of various cave deposits were known back in the 6th-5th centuries. BC e.

In the warm Sicilian cave of Kronio, drops of water were collected in terracotta vessels and used to treat stomach diseases. Pliny the Elder (79-23 BC) in Natural History, which until the end of the 17th century. was used as a source of knowledge about nature, wrote that “salt from the caves relieves nervous suffering, pain in the shoulders and lower back, stabbing in the side, pain in the stomach.”

In the Middle Ages, crushed stalactites, moon milk and cave clay (wound healing), ground drips (pressure bandages), zinc silicate - galmei (eye diseases) were used as a remedy.

Alchemists considered mummified corpses of people and animals from caves to be the most important ingredient in medicines and magical potions. This, along with the curse imposed by the "holy church", caused their almost complete destruction.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Indians used gypsum and mirabilite from Mammoth and other caves in America as a laxative. The population of South Asia in the 20th century. uses nests of rock swifts for medicinal purposes (fighting anemia, raising body tone).

Traveler V. Berkh wrote in 1821 that the drips of the Divya Cave in the Urals “are useful for external diseases.” In the 20th century, it even required a special explanation from the Minister of Health in the newspaper “Soviet Bashkiria” (10/12/1965) that crushed drips from it do not have healing properties.

Mumiyo certainly occupies an exceptional place among cave deposits used as medicine. It has been known to Eastern medicine for more than 3 thousand years and is widespread in Arabia, Iran, Central Asia, India, and China.

Mumiyo has dozens of names, is mentioned in ancient treatises and medical books, and is glorified in the poems of medieval poets. In the 20th century Scientific symposiums are held on the problem of mumiyo (Dushanbe, 1965; Pyatigorsk, 1982), dissertations are defended, and extensive experimental and clinical material is accumulated.

But, although both symposiums noted that “mumiyo is a complex biological preparation that represents a most valuable therapeutic agent,” the attitude of official medicine towards it is cool.

But traditional medicine widely uses mumiyo to accelerate the regeneration of bone tissue in fractures, to treat bronchial asthma and tuberculosis, stomach diseases and urolithiasis, skin diseases, thrombophlebitis, etc.

What is mumiyo?

It is a word of Greek origin meaning "preserving body." In different areas, behind it, obviously, there are formations of different origins, which have similar features: solubility in water, softening at a temperature of 36-37 ° C, appearance (hence its second name “mountain wax”) and medicinal properties.

Mumiyo is found in rock cracks and caves, in small sheds and in huge grottoes. It is found in Central Asia and Antarctica, Iran and Transbaikalia, at an altitude of 500 to 3200 m above sea level. Using the most advanced chemical and isotope methods, geochemists R. Yusupov and E. Galimov proposed a single formula for different samples of mumiyo: CaSi[(K, Na)C4H10CH2O]5.

Shilajit is a kind of natural mineral with a stable organic part of the molecule. It contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen - the elements that make up glucose and other natural sugars, as well as the basis of any plant, fiber.

A number of microelements were found in mumiyo: molybdenum, copper, nickel, cobalt, tin, bismuth, gold, scandium, etc. Isotope analysis showed that mumiyo is similar in composition to mountain vegetation.

What explains the differences in mumiyo from different locations?

The famous Perm karst expert, Professor G. A. Maksimovich tried to answer this question. He proposed a genetic classification of mumiyo, distinguishing its two generations - hot (bitumens) and cold (water-soluble or organomineral).

Hot mumiyo is a water-insoluble asphalt-like substance that has the smell of oil. It is about him that Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ahmad al-Biruni write in their treatises. In Egypt, such mumiyo was used for embalming mummies. It was mined in areas of natural oil seeps.

Cold mumiyo is formed in various ways. Botanogenic evaporites, botanocoprogenic evaporites and coprolites are found in the caves. Botanogenic evaporites are mumiyo, resulting from the dissolution of organic matter of dead plant remains, runoff and gradual evaporation of aqueous solutions.

Such a mummy was discovered in the Akhalkalaki cave (Georgia). Botanocoprogenic evaporites accumulate in the cracks of vaults during the evaporation of solutions containing organic matter of dead plants, bird and animal droppings in varying proportions. Most of the mumiyo locations belong to this class (North Ossetia, Central Asia, Tien Shan, etc.).

Coprolites are formed mainly from the droppings of flying squirrels. Its Transbaikal variety, brakshun, belongs to this class. The origin of the Antarctic mumiyo is still unclear. It is a product of plant (fungal) or organic (snow petrel saliva) origin. The age of the brakshun is 50-75 years, the mumiyo of other classes is less than 1000 years old.

Thus, his mystery is still far from being resolved. The locations of mumiyos require protection, since they are now being rapaciously destroyed by “traditional healers.”

Caves are not only underground pharmacies, but also underground hospitals.

Earlier than others, thermal caves began to be used for these purposes, where the main active ingredient is elevated temperature. Steam caves are characterized by fairly high air temperatures (40-50 °C), high humidity and radioactivity.

Deep heating in the “steam baths of Callochero” (Sicily) helps treat rheumatism, various neuralgia, nephritis, respiratory diseases, diseases of the lymphatic system, skin and metabolism. In the Viterbo cave (Italy) steam baths are used to treat arthritis, arthrosis, joint and muscle diseases.

Steam karst caves are known in Romania (Despicatura), and volcanic caves are known in Iceland, the USA, New Zealand, etc.

Flooded thermal caves with underground lakes, rivers and springs that provide fairly hot (28-42 °C) water are much more widespread. The water often carbonates with CO2 or hydrogen sulfide, forming accumulations of healing mud in the sediments at the exit of the cave. It has a different composition (usually sulfate, sulfate-alkaline or sulfate), contains a number of microcomponents, and is sometimes weakly radioactive.

In such caves they perform inhalations (bronchial asthma), take baths (gout, obesity, dermatoses, uremia, rheumatism, gynecological diseases, diseases of the lymphatic system), water procedures (arthritis, myositis, rheumatism, neuralgia), mud therapy (rheumatism, hypertension, saline polyarthritis, gynecological diseases).

Most of the thermal caves used for treatment are located in Italy (Acquasanta, Viterbo, Cronio, Montesummao, San Marino, Sulfurea). They are known in Hungary (Tavas, St. Stephen, Fig. 88) and in other countries. In some places (Hungary, Canada, USA, Australia) thermal caves are used as baths, which also brings a significant healing effect.

The former USSR also has experience in using thermal caves for balneological purposes. In 1837, the bathhouse on Pyatigorsky Proval began operating. Prince V. S. Golitsyn donated money for its construction. The Proval mine is located on the slope of the Mashuk laccolith, covered with Cretaceous limestones and Paleogene marls.

The gap formed over the dome of a large karst cavity was blocked by a wooden platform, from which, using a gate, thrill-seekers in a wicker basket descended 40 m to an underground lake, swam in its warm (22-42 ° C) water and returned back. Among the first daredevils was M. Yu. Lermontov.

But the commandant of the fortress had doubts about the strength of the platform, and by Lermontov’s second visit to the Caucasus (1841) it was dismantled. In 1858, at the insistence of Doctor Batalin, a 43 m long tunnel was built to the lake. Many people began to use “Warm Narzan” for medicinal purposes.

There are also good prospects for organizing treatment in the Baharden Cave in Turkmenistan (a lake with a water temperature of 36 °C at a depth of 60 m).

Mining workings can also be used for balneological purposes.

During the Second World War, abandoned in the 16th century. gold mining was resumed in the Bad Hallstein mine (Germany). The miners noticed that most of them were cured of rheumatism.

Subsequent studies showed that the presence of radium emanation and high temperature (42 ° C) contribute to the treatment of neuralgia, rheumatism, infantile paralysis and diseases of the lymph glands. In the state of Montana (USA), two old mines of silver-lead ores are equipped as hospitals for the treatment of joints.

The Gasteiner adit (Austria) is a natural emanatorium, the healing properties of which are supported by the thermal (41 ° C) radon spring it opened.

The fate of cold karst caves was much more complicated. There are indications in the literature that caves in gypsum (Italy) were used for treatment back in the Neolithic.

In 1839, the doctor D. Krogan acquired the right to exploit Mammoth Cave (USA) for treatment. He equipped it with boxes for those suffering from tuberculosis. After the death of several patients, the hospital was closed. In the 19th century Tunisian doctors drew attention to the large number of long-livers (90-100 years) among the tribes living in the caves of the Saharan Atlas.

The healing properties of the Klutert cave (Germany) were discovered by accident. In the 40s During British air raids, local residents took refuge in the surrounding caves, which were 5 km long and could accommodate up to 6 thousand people, including children with asthma who felt improvement in the caves.

Subsequent studies confirmed this. In Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia) a number of speleological hospitals were organized in the middle of the 20th century. In 1965, a speleotherapy commission was created as part of the International Union of Speleologists.

What are the healing factors in cold caves? After all, we have already seen that the microclimate of the speleobiosphere is far from comfortable...

Special studies have shown that there are six of them. Low (6-12 °C), but constant air temperature contributes to the narrowing of dilated blood vessels; high CO2 content (0.3-3.0 versus 0.03% on the surface) increases breathing volume by 1.0-1.5 l/min, and promotes deeper ventilation of the lungs; high air ionization and the presence of aerosols of different compositions help reduce swelling of the mucous membranes; high humidity (95-100%) - deep penetration of charged particles and aerosols into the respiratory tract.

To this should be added the high purity of the air (less than 150 microbes per 1 m3), the absence of allergens and the silence of the caves, which “relieves” stress and allows you to better perceive other healing factors.

Cold caves can be used to treat bronchial asthma, hypertension (in this case there is a decrease in both maximum and minimum pressure), cardiosclerosis (in elderly patients), hypotension, neurocircular dystonia, information neurosis.

After 20-25 days of two to three hour procedures, patients feel a significant improvement, and not only in the underlying disease. The rested nervous system enters a working rhythm, the activity of the cortical zones of the brain increases, the range of assimilated auditory and light stimuli significantly expands - patients seem to begin to see the world wider and brighter...

Now there are about a dozen speleoclimatic hospitals in Europe: Klutert (Germany, since 1945), Gombásek (Slovakia, since 1951), Mira and Aggtelek (Hungary, since 1954), Tapolca (Hungary, since 1956) , Magura (Bulgaria, since 1974), etc. In the former USSR it is so far only White (Georgia, since 1978). Unfortunately, the caves of resort areas such as Crimea and Greater Sochi are not used at all for speleotherapy.

The occurrence of mass psychoses based on the “miracle of healing” is sometimes associated with caves. In 1858, a sickly and nervous girl, Bernadette Soubirous, from the quiet town of Lourdes on the northern slope of the Pyrenees (France), was returning from the forest with a bundle of firewood. She imagined a marvelous “vision” illuminated by a radiance emerging from a grotto with an underground river.

The local priest listened to her story with great interest and advised her to go to the grotto again. Each new visit provided new details. In the end, the “vision” declared itself to be the Virgin Mary and promised that from now on the water flowing from the grotto would bring healing from ailments to all zealous Catholics...

Rumors about the miraculous spring spread throughout France. In 1864, with private donations, the Kurdish Basilica was built here, now one of the richest churches in Europe. By a special edict of the Pope, Lourdes was declared a place of annual pilgrimage.

“Not only France, all of Europe, the whole world set out on the road, and in some years of especially religious upsurge there were up to 500 thousand people,” wrote E. Zola in 1894 in his novel “Lourdes.” Approximately the same figures are given in their memoirs by the writer O. Forsh (1929) and academician A. Kursakov (1954). But for some reason there is no information about the number of people healed...

Science fiction writers are closely following caves as sources of new scientific knowledge. The plot of the story “Heuristics” by the English writer K. Enville is based on the little-known fact of the almost complete absence of allergens in the air of karst cavities.

A criminal took refuge in a large multi-entrance cave and stole important drawings. It was not possible to find him. But heuristics (the art of solving emerging problems) helped. At the entrance through which air entered the labyrinth, fresh hay was laid out.

Pollen from meadow flowers, picked up by the air flow, spread throughout the labyrinth and found its target. The criminal was betrayed by a cough alternating with loud sneezing - he suffered from hay fever...

In addition to natural caves, you can also use mine workings for speleotherapy, in which rock salt (NaCl), potassium salts (KCl, MgCl2.KCl.6H20, etc.), and alunite (Kal326) are mined. Abandoned adits and mines can also be used for speleotherapy.

The healing factor, in addition to the usual ones for cold caves, is the large amount of salt aerosols in the air. Indications for treatment are mainly diseases of the respiratory system (asthma, whooping cough, emphysema), some cardiovascular diseases, allergies; in recent years, a positive effect on the treatment of burns and acceleration of wound healing has been revealed.

There are several known salt mines in Europe used for speleotherapy. This is the famous underground mine “Jeremiah’s Happiness” in Germany, where aluminum alum began to be mined almost half a millennium ago. In 1914, one of its adits, overgrown with stalactites and stalagmites, became a tourist attraction, and in the 50s. A hospital for children with whooping cough was installed in the mine.

At the same time, a hospital was opened at a depth of 400 m in the Schenebock mine (Germany). Constant temperature (20 °C) and higher atmospheric pressure made it possible to successfully treat respiratory diseases. Then, hospitals were opened in the Solbad salt mine (Austria, since 1955), Wieliczka (Poland, since 1958), and Proida (Romania, since 1975).

In the CIS countries, hospitals were opened in Solotvino (Ukraine, since 1968, Fig. 88), Nakhichevan (Azerbaijan, since 1979), Avans (Armenia, since 1979), Berezniki (Russia, since 1980), Chon- Tuze (Kyrgyzstan, since 1981), Artemovsk (Ukraine, since 1992).

The most famous is the Solotvyno hospital, which became the base for “salt therapy” among the workings that extracted rock salt. The speleotherapeutic department of the allergy hospital consists of a complex of mine workings to accommodate patients.

It is located at a depth of 300 m from the surface (16.5 m below sea level) and consists of a main gallery 96 m long, 12 m wide, 6 m high and four auxiliary galleries with a total length of 600 m. The volume of the compartment is 25 thousand m3. Niches-chambers are carved into the walls of the galleries.

The glass-profiled boxes house rooms for functional diagnostics, electrophototherapy, a dining room, a physical therapy room, etc. To maintain an optimal microclimate, the treatment department is ventilated through special ventilation ducts. On average, 1 m3/min is supplied to each patient. air.

Main parameters in medical premises: air temperature 22.5-23.5°C, relative humidity 30-50%, moisture content 5.0-10.0 g/m3, movement speed 0.03-0.04 m/s; atmospheric pressure 760-770 mm Hg. Art.; aerosol content 2.5-4.0 mg/m3, NaCl in aerosols 99-100%, amount of oxygen - 20.8 volume %, carbon dioxide 0.03-0.04 volume %, bacterial contamination 7-100 microorganisms per m3 ; illumination 80-120 lux, noise 27-28 decibels.

The underground department is designed to accommodate 120 patients at a time. Patients are discharged with improvement in 80-90% of adults and 90-95% of children. The effectiveness of treatment in patients of different ages is interesting: less than 30 years old - 100%, 30-40 years old - 91%, 40-50 years old - 87%, more than 50 years old - 85%.

Speleotherapy (Greek speleon - cave; therapia - treatment), that is, treatment with a long stay in the unique and peculiar microclimate of grottoes, caves, salt mines, appeared about two and a half years ago. And from the second half of the 19th century, speleology became widespread in Italy, and then in other countries.

After World War II, speleotherapy began to spread throughout Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and the Soviet Union. Nowadays, it is actively used to treat respiratory diseases, bronchial asthma, hypertension, joint diseases and many other ailments. The natural microclimate of these caves, somewhat reminiscent of the fairy-tale palaces of the Snow Queen, strengthens the body's defenses and activates blood circulation. The microclimate here is truly amazing! Atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity are stable, background radiation is reduced to a minimum, and the air is saturated with negatively contaminated ions, which are extremely beneficial for our health. In addition, there are fewer microorganisms even than in sterile operating rooms!

The popularity of speleotherapy is explained, first of all, by the fact that it is based on the use of only natural factors. Its huge advantage is that it does not cause side effects at all, and therefore can be indicated for both children and adults. The psychological aspect is also important here - temporary isolation from the external environment promotes relaxation and relieves nervous tension.

However, this method has several contraindications. Speleotherapy should not be prescribed in the second half of pregnancy, in case of malignant tumors, epilepsy, serious mental disorders, or in case of individual intolerance.

Speleotherapeutic sessions are perhaps the most effective method of treating allergic diseases, neurodermatitis and eczema, chronic bronchitis, mild and moderate bronchial asthma and pre-asthmic conditions. And at the same time, this is the simplest method.

Typically, patients are prescribed from 10 to 24 sessions, depending on the indications. After the first few procedures, you can already feel the beneficial effects of the cleanest air on the entire body, in particular on our immune system. As a result, the functioning of the cardiovascular system and metabolic processes are normalized, and overall well-being improves. During the procedure, you need to relax as much as possible, breathing should be deep, even and calm. Clothes for the procedure should be comfortable and do not restrict movement. While in an underground salt mine, you should not smoke or use cosmetics that have a strong and strong aroma.

In Ukraine, the only place where a natural underground salt cave is used for healing is the Solotvyno salt mines located in Transcarpathia. And also here, since 1976, the world's largest allergy clinic has been operating.

In addition to natural salt caves, nowadays they use special speleological chambers, or, as they are also called, halochambers. These are rooms in which the walls, floor and ceiling are lined with salt blocks carved from caves. Thus, the microclimate created indoors is, in all respects, almost in no way different from a natural healing one. Halotherapy is quite accessible - currently such chambers are present in many health centers, clinics and sanatoriums. So, if you do not have the opportunity to travel to places where natural salt caves are located, you have a worthy alternative.

In addition to speleological chambers, salt (or sylvinite) lamps, which perfectly combine the healing properties of light and natural mineral, can have a positive effect on the body. Salt lamps can have a variety of shades - they owe this mainly to algae and minerals that are compressed with salt... As scientific research proves, each color has a certain effect on well-being. For example, red enhances vital energy, orange can eliminate shock, yellow has a positive effect on mental activity, and pink affects the emotional sphere of a person.

Salt adit is a horizontal or inclined underground mine opening with access to the surface for servicing underground mining operations. Such an adit for the extraction of rock salt, located in Poland, already in the 19th century. was used for medicinal purposes. Polish doctor Felix Boczkowski, observing patients, noticed that staying in salt adits for patients with pulmonary diseases brought them more benefit than salt inhalations. This is how a new healing method appeared - treatment in salt caves. Today, in addition to the Wieliczka salt adit, there are other similar healing caves, for example, the “Cave of Tranquility” in Hungary and the Stanggasse Clinic, near Berchtesgaden in Germany. There are many salt caves in Russia and Ukraine.

Before going to the caves and after visiting them, doctors conduct a thorough examination of patients. First of all, pulse and blood pressure, respiratory rate, vital capacity of the lungs are measured, then the results obtained are compared with the previous ones. In caves (adits), patients, covered with warm blankets, lie or sit quietly. The length of stay in a particular cave varies and depends on its depth, pressure, temperature and salt concentration in the air.

For example, in the Wieliczka adit the air temperature is 22-24 ° C, the relative humidity is 69-79%. Patients usually spend about 4 hours in the adit. The duration of stay in the adit at night is 12 hours. Sometimes night and day treatment are combined, with stay in the adit reaching 14 hours a day. In the Yoshvaf adit, at an air temperature of 10-11°C, a relative humidity of 100%, the duration of a patient’s stay during the day is about 5 hours, at night no more than 10 hours. In the Stanggas adit, at an air temperature of 11-12°C and a relative air humidity of 65%, patients stay for no more than 2 hours.

Indications for treatment in salt adits

Treatment in salt caves is beneficial for patients with respiratory diseases and asthma. It is believed that during one treatment course in the salt caves of Poland, all bacteria in the nasopharynx cavity are destroyed and the condition of patients with bronchial asthma improves. In the salt adits, bronchial asthma, chronic catarrhal inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, emphysema, and chronic pneumonia are treated. It is possible to treat diseases of the cardiovascular system and blood vessels, metabolic disorders and diseases of the digestive tract. Treatment of rheumatic diseases, diseases of the joints and spine is also possible.

Treatment in the microclimate of salt caves is contraindicated for patients suffering from various phobias, especially claustrophobia. Treatment is also contraindicated for patients with certain forms of heart failure, angina pectoris, acute infectious diseases and epilepsy.

What are the benefits of salt therapy?

There are practically no allergens in the cave. When pathogens, pollen or other substances that cause allergies enter the cave, they settle on its walls. In addition, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air of the cave is slightly increased, which makes breathing easier for asthma patients. With an increased concentration of carbon dioxide, the respiratory center of the medulla oblongata and chemoreceptors in the walls of blood vessels are activated, gas exchange in the lungs and oxygen saturation of arterial blood improves. Thanks to specific air pressure, temperature and relative humidity, the condition of patients with respiratory diseases improves.

The Polish Wieliczka salt adit is one of the few that uses salt treatment. The hospital offers 7, 12 and 18-day treatment courses. The course of treatment can be negotiated individually, taking into account the client’s condition and wishes.

Even in ancient Asian countries, more than two thousand years ago, people first noticed the healing effect of a long stay of a sick person in a cave.

And during World War II, salt mines were often used as bomb shelters. And many asthmatics hiding there reported significant improvements in their health.

So what is the salt?

The air in caves contains calcium, magnesium, sodium salts and negative ions.

It turns out that it’s all about the unique microclimate of karst and salt caves, mines and grottoes. Here, the temperature is constant all year round from 10 to 16 degrees, air humidity is about 80%, and the carbon dioxide content is tens of times higher than in the atmosphere. And the air of the caves is saturated with the smallest aerosol, which contains calcium, magnesium, sodium salts and negative ions.

It is in these caves that salt therapy sessions are held.

The healing properties of speleotherapy

Speleotherapy- this is a method of various diseases in the natural conditions of a cave. In our country it began to be practiced in the mid-twentieth century.

What are the benefits of visiting salt mines?

First, the human body must adapt to new conditions, and only after that the therapeutic effect occurs. The duration of speleotherapy sessions is from 2 to 9 hours, it depends on the patient’s disease. The optimal course of treatment is 15-20 procedures.

While in a cave, positive changes occur in the human body:

Blood circulation and heart function are normalized;
The immune system improves;
Allergic and inflammatory processes pass;
The lungs are cleansed and moisturized;
Deep breathing is stimulated.

In addition, the atmosphere in the cave causes calm and relaxation, and has a positive effect on the psycho-emotional state. While staying in the salt mine, the patient rests quietly, walks and does gymnastic and breathing exercises.

Indications for speleotherapy

Chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma;
Chronic diseases of the upper respiratory tract (allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, chronic rhinosinusitis);
Allergic diseases, hay fever;
Prevention of recurrent bronchitis;
Cardiopsychoneurosis;
Condition after operations on the lungs, respiratory tract and diaphragm;
Atopic dermatitis, neurodermatitis, recurrent eczema;
Obesity.

Speleotherapy can also benefit a healthy person: it helps relieve fatigue and irritation, improve sleep and increase the tone of the body as a whole.

Contraindications for speleotherapy

Acute bronchitis;
Bronchial asthma with repeated severe attacks;
Severe eczema of the lungs.

But modern speleotherapy is not only about caves and salt deposits...

Artificial analogues of salt caves

Scientists have recently created artificial salt rooms - caving chambers. And now the speleotherapy treatment method is used in many sanatoriums around the world, where you can try salt treatment for yourself, and at the same time have a great rest.

By the way, salt rooms are available not only in sanatoriums, but also in many hospitals, spa centers, kindergartens and offices.

Salt rooms are available not only in sanatoriums, but also in many hospitals, spa centers, kindergartens and offices.

Salt lamp - another modern invention, thanks to which the atmosphere of a salt cave is recreated and the air is ionized. It is a block of rock salt on a wooden stand. Inside this crystal there is a hole with a lamp installed in it. When the lamp heats up, the salt evaporates through small holes.

A block of salt can be natural, unprocessed, or some interesting shape made by hand. This salt lamp, combined with dim lighting, creates a calming, pleasant atmosphere.

In the old days, it was believed that salt had magical properties, protected against witchcraft and the evil eye, and served as a talisman. Now it also continues to bring health benefits, good luck and amazing peace to those who inhale its medicinal vapors.

Salt caves and their healing properties have been known since ancient times. And the method, based on the use of the climate prevailing in them, is called “speleotherapy”; patients spend a long time in the unique microclimate of grottoes, salt caves and spears.

Speletherapy can be safely classified as a natural and natural method of treatment. It does not cause complications and meets the most important principle of medicine - “do no harm.”

The air in salt caves is saturated with natural salt, and it affects the entire human body, combining several influencing factors, no medications are used, and all actions are aimed at stimulating the body's defenses to rapidly changing environmental conditions.

Salt caves healing properties

In speleotherapy, there is great variability in methods; depending on the disease and its course, the optimal combination of salt concentration and climatic factors is selected, and the time spent in the cave is determined individually, but the effect of such therapy only increases. Although the success of treatment depends not only on this, in addition to this, patients, upon entering a salt cave, are faced with changes in temperature, pressure and humidity of the surrounding air, etc. When encountering unusual factors, a person activates all the protective systems responsible for restructuring the body under stressful conditions. But a sharp change in climatic conditions in salt caves does not occur, because in this case, compensatory mechanisms can be depleted. And the treatment method is aimed at facilitating their work.

For example, asthmatic diseases, treatment is aimed at reducing the frequency and number of attacks and improving overall well-being. After the speleotherapy procedure, patients experience a reduction in anxiety and tension. During sessions in salt caves, the patient’s body adapts to a new and more favorable mode of operation, remembering it at the cellular level.

Chronic diseases last a long time, and a unique chain of protective reactions is created in the body, which is not always effective. The healing properties of salt caves are aimed at breaking such existing vicious connections and stimulating the formation of new ones, thanks to which all organs and systems begin to function normally.

It is this property of speleotherapy that can explain the short-term deterioration in the health of some patients in the middle of treatment. This happens due to the fact that compensatory mechanisms have to “break” the usual functioning of all organs and systems in a new, healthy way. This, however, must be approached with caution, since the more drastic changes that must occur, the higher the risk of complications.

It’s amazing how minor fluctuations in environmental parameters, sometimes not noticeable to humans, can cause such a powerful reaction from the body’s protective and adaptive forces.

In almost 100% of cases, the impetus received during spleotherapy sessions, which is aimed at breaking the body’s persistent, painful reactions, makes it possible to reverse the course of the disease and sets the body up for recovery. As a result of treatment in salt caves, the clinical manifestations of many diseases may disappear, even if the disease has a long and chronic course. There is one “but”: if the old lifestyle is resumed, the disease returns, especially if there is a genetic predisposition.

Scientists, studying the healing properties of salt caves, came to the conclusion that an improvement in the general well-being of patients and a high percentage of achieving stable remissions of a wide variety of diseases occurs due to hormesis. Hormesis is stimulation of the body as a whole or its individual systems, but with insufficient force to cause harm. Thus causing a peculiar response of the compensatory capabilities of the human body to environmental changes that occur in salt mines.

Climatic conditions, of course, have a positive effect on the entire body, but we must not forget about the direct beneficial effects of salt aerosols, high humidity, and increased concentrations of aeroins. All these factors, by the way, are used to treat bronchial asthma, the evacuation of sputum improves and its viscosity decreases.

It is the combination of characteristics: the unique microclimate of salt caves and the special reaction of the body that together give a positive and sustainable therapeutic result.

Despite the fact that official medicine is quite skeptical about speleotherapy, it is successfully used to treat most diseases, in many sanatorium-resort complexes using caves or artificially created such conditions. But it is still only of an auxiliary nature to the main therapy.

Taking into account the hormesis factor, they are regulated indications and contraindications for treatment in salt mines.

Indications:

Bronchial asthma in remission, mild to moderate severity, not complicated by severe cardiopulmonary failure.

Chronic respiratory diseases without purulent discharge from the lungs.

Atopic dermatitis, beyond the acute stage.

Chronic bronchitis is in remission, and there is no cardiopulmonary failure.

Allergic hay fever (runny nose) and other respiratory diseases.

Vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Contraindications:

Any disease in the acute period.

Mental illnesses or disorders.

Cachexia (pronounced thinness).

Drug addiction and substance abuse.

Tendency to bleed.

Active tuberculosis.

Diseases of the hematopoietic organs.

Tumors.

Pregnancy.

Radiation sickness (it all depends on its degree).

Acute infectious diseases.

Treatment in salt mines should only be carried out under medical supervision.

Salt caves healing properties

Halotherapy is a modern method of speleotherapy. The method is based on staying in an aerosol environment saturated with dry salt aerosol with a strictly defined concentration.

The field of halotherapy services is relatively new, but has already been proven; it can be combined with biological restoration and preventive services in health resort tourism. Halotherapy services are medical services that help improve the psychophysical condition of people. In this regard, the popularization of a healthy lifestyle comes to the fore.

Many years of experience of pulmonologists testifies that salt cures many ailments, bringing mental and physical comfort to a person every day. Based on the experience of pulmonologists, many products have been developed and patented: slabs, panels, salt rooms, grottoes, caves, cooling towers , - All of them are made from natural rock salt crystals containing trace elements necessary for human life, such as:

iron- counteracts anemia, eliminates general weakness and improves immunity
calcium- has a preventive effect against diseases of the musculoskeletal system
magnesium- has a preventive effect against metabolic disorders, excess cholesterol and oxalates (bile and kidney stones), reduces nervous excitability
copper- eliminates metabolic disorders and promotes better absorption of iron
manganese- mitigates the toxicity of harmful compounds that we encounter every day
zinc- has a preventive effect against prostate diseases and growth disorders
selenium- “cleanses” the body of free radicals and protects against the development of malignant tumors, neutralizing the harmful effects of mercury, lead, cadmium contained in polluted air, and also slows down the aging process of the body.
lithium- counteracts the development of sclerosis, heart disease, and, to some extent, diabetes mellitus
iodine- protects against thyroid diseases.

Crystal rock salt is a natural ionizer, effectively improves air quality by releasing negative ions, which are found in large quantities over the sea, over waterfalls and after a storm. Negatively ionized air allows you to improve your health and helps in the treatment of various diseases: bronchial asthma, diseases of the lungs and bronchi, circulatory failure, post-infarction condition, hypertension, gastric and duodenal ulcers, gastritis, and psoriasis, skin inflammation, allergies, hypersensitivity, various types of neuroses, depression, stress, fatigue.

The healing benefits of the microclimate created by natural rock salt products are based on the creation of natural aerosols: the dispersion phase is modified air, while the diffusion phase is liquid or solid particles. An important fact is that the components escaping into the air are negatively charged.

IN salt rooms from the point of view of physical, chemical and biological, as well as therapeutic conditions, thanks to the use of a system of climate control equipment and ventilation, the temperature, humidity and specific, unique microclimate of underground mines are reproduced at depths reaching up to 650 m.

The air filling the salt rooms and salt saunas , is rich in valuable microelements and practically does not contain pollutants characteristic of a modern urban environment. Thanks to the high concentration of sodium chlorine, which has an antiallergenic and antifungal effect. The purity of the air in the crystal salt Room is ten times higher than outside. These microclimate properties, i.e. biological and chemical purity, saturation with microelements and negative ionization also have a positive effect on the body of healthy people.

Staying in such an atmosphere significantly reduces stress, deepens and slows breathing, strengthens the body's immune system, increases the ability to concentrate, brings a feeling of freshness and satisfaction, while slowing down skin aging, smoothing wrinkles and accelerating the burning of calories, effectively fighting excess weight.

Visits to the salt room should occur every two days, and for healthy people without any worries, once a week for preventive purposes, to boost the immune system.