Speleotherapy - what is it? Speleotherapy: contraindications and reviews

Both in winter and in summer, modern urban residents spend most of their lives in poorly ventilated rooms. Even going out into the street, "gulp" fresh air in the stone jungle is quite difficult. The high level of air pollution in our cities leads to the emergence and development of an increasing number of various diseases of the respiratory system. The existing methods of treatment are divided into medicamentous ones - doctors with the help of pharmacological preparations, and non-medicinal ones - that help in some other way. One of these ways, which came to us from the depths of centuries, we will consider. This article will be devoted to the answer to the question: "Speleotherapy - what is it and who can it help?"

Special treatment

The word "speleotherapy" is formed from the two roots of such Greek words as " spelaion" cave And " therapeía" - treatment. That is, in order to cure a person, both natural grottoes and caves are used, as well as the mine workings of potash, salt and metal mines created and developed by people. At first glance, it may seem rather strange that patients are placed in a dungeon, because there it is cold and scary. But such an impression is formed by those who have not tried this method of treatment on their own and do not have detailed information about speleotherapy - what it is and how it is conducted.

Characteristics of healing caves

The healing effect of dungeons has been known for more than two millennia, but only in the last 20-40 years it has been actively studied and widely used. A special microclimate of natural and artificial mines used for treatment is characterized by stable temperature values and a high level of ionization, practically complete absence of pathogenic microorganisms and allergens, dry and pure, saturated ions of mineral salts by air. It is important to note that it is possible to speleotherapy of children, since this method of treatment does not reveal any side effects.

History of occurrence

Researchers of this therapeutic method of treatment agree that it arose more than two thousand years ago. Still priests of ancient Greece recommended patients with attacks of suffocation and cough to visit salt caves, and Israeli doctors worked and treated in similar dungeons. In chronicles of ancient India, there were references to the fact that it was in the salt caves and caves that the soldiers, after battles, rested and restored their strength. With the passage of time such a simple and effective method of healing was forgotten.

To the question of speleotherapy - what it is, and how the air of the salt dungeons affects the human body, the scientists turned in the middle of the 20th century. Interest in this issue was first shown by the German, and after them by Polish, Austrian, Czech physicians. Special speleological clinics and clinics were created that successfully helped patients with chronic bronchitis, asthma and other respiratory diseases.

After several decades, official medicine recognized that speleotherapy is an effective method of treatment. For people with diseases of the respiratory and nervous system, skin diseases were created rooms in which artificially recreated the atmosphere of caves and filled with salt aerosols. This direction was called halotherapy, since speleotherapy is possible only in natural conditions.

Where can I find the caves?

After the patients from different countries got the first idea of what speleotherapy is - and how effective its methods are, as well as with the emergence of new scientific data, various types of clinics, hospitals and hospitals have been established in many countries. So, technogenic radon tunnels in Bad Gastein have found application in Austria, and Wieliczka salt mines in Poland.

In modern Russia, this method of treatment is used in sanatoriums and clinics created in the Perm, Tyumen and Sverdlovsk regions, the Krasnodar Territory, as well as in the Moscow region.

In the near abroad there are also speleotherapy resorts, for example Soligorsk salt mines in Belarus, Kyrgyz Chon-Guz, caves Duzdag in Azerbaijan.

How it works?

It should be noted that speleotherapy is a rather specific and unusual treatment for us, in which the special microclimate and air of underground caves are the main influencing factor. The peculiarity of this method is that it takes a long time to be underground to obtain the result.

Researches of scientists have shown, that in caves really special microclimate:

1. The air is saturated with negative ions and mineral salts.

2. Constancy of gas and ionic air composition.

3. Practically complete absence of allergens, dust of pathogenic microorganisms, due to which:

• Reduces the number of circulating immune complexes that damage normal cells and cause inflammation;
• The number of T-lymphocytes responsible for the recognition and destruction of foreign agents is increasing;
• The phagocytic activity of cells increases;
• The content of immunoglobulins is normalized.

4. Low relative humidity of the ambient air.

5. Stable and not subject to sudden changes in temperature and pressure.

6. A small increase in the radiation background, especially in karst formations.

7. Somewhat elevated levels of carbon dioxide.

For each of the caves used for treatment, these characteristics have different and unique meanings.

Specific and nonspecific effects

Thanks to all the above factors, cavity air improves and normalizes protein and carbohydrate metabolic processes in the body, cleans the respiratory system of harmful substances, tar and dust, helps to dilute and excrete sputum. All these are specific effects, but apart from them, there are so-called nonspecific effects.

Such influences include:

• Gravitational and electromagnetic fields;
• Acoustic vibrations;
• A special psychological attitude.

Specific and nonspecific effects of the "cave" treatment result in a general positive result. Unfortunately, the speleotherapy offered today in a polyclinic or a health center can not be compared with the impact of real underground clinics.

In what cases does it help?

Today in the arsenal of speleotherapy there are many methods of treating a wide variety of diseases. Depending on the nature and course of diseases, physicians select climatic factors, the concentration of different salts and the individual residence time in the cave. However, along with a multitude of advantages, speleotherapy of contra-indications is available and not all will be suitable.

This method of treatment is indicated for such diseases as:

• Various types of bronchial asthma;
• Chronic bronchitis and pneumonia;
• Pollinosis;
• Hypertensive disease I and II-A stages;
• Psychosomatic disorders (sleep disorders, headaches, chronic fatigue syndrome);
• Chronic diseases of the upper respiratory tract:

- tonsillitis,

- rhinitis,

- sinusitis,

- laryngitis,

- adenoiditis,

- tonsillitis,

- pharyngitis;

• Atopic dermatitis, eczema and psoriasis without exacerbation;
• Medicamentous and food allergies.

In addition, for the restoration of immunity after the transferred diseases and surgical interventions on the respiratory organs.

Contraindications

Like most medical methods, except for merits, speleotherapy is contraindicated. These include:

1. Mental disorders and diseases.

2. Any illness in the acute phase.

3. Tumors and cancer.

4. Severe forms of hypertension and bronchial asthma.

5. Diseases of the circulatory system and hematopoiesis.

6. Active form of tuberculosis.

7. Pregnancy.

Before planning treatment with speleoterapevticheskimi methods, be sure to consult with your doctor.

And children can?

Children, from the age of two, can also be in salt caves and mines. Only it should be remembered that up to five years of age the child must necessarily be accompanied by one of the parents. Up to the age of 10, babies can only receive daytime sessions of procedures lasting about 1.5-2 hours. Children older than 10 years can be assigned and night sessions of speleotherapy, lasting up to 9 hours.

Is speleotherapy effective for children? Parents' reviews, in most cases, are positive. Children not only enjoyed going to the caves, but their health improved significantly. In a number of cases, there was a long-term improvement and even a complete absence of allergic reactions after returning to the familiar environment.

However, among those parents whose children have been treated with speleotherapy, there are those who believe that it has not helped or has had little positive effect. Basically, these are those whose children showed a slight deterioration of the condition at the very beginning of the treatment and to whom the doctors gave a "breather" so that the body could rest and get used to it. In fact, there is nothing wrong with this, since in this way the respiratory system reacts to external influences.

It is clear that treatment in salt mines and caves is not a panacea for everything, but it has helped to repair and restore health to many people. Of course, if there are financial opportunities and a special room, you can also make an artificial salt cave in your own house. But it is worth noting that speleotherapy at home is not as effective as in natural natural, and besides it is necessary to know exactly how much time should be affected and whether it will help with your disease.