Both in winter and summer, modern urban residents spend most of their lives in poorly ventilated rooms. Even going outside, "swallowing" fresh air in a 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 methods of treatment that exist today are divided into medication - doctors using pharmacological drugs, and non-medication - helping in some other way. One of such methods, which came to us from the depths of centuries, we will consider. This article will be devoted to answering the question: "Speleotherapy - what is it and who can it help?"
Special treatment
The word "speleotherapy" is formed from two roots of such Greek words as " spelaion" - cave and " therapeía" is a cure. That is, in order to cure a person, both natural grottoes and caves are used, as well as 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 it is cold and scary there. But a similar impression is formed by those who have not tried this treatment technique on themselves and do not have detailed information about speleotherapy - what it is and how it is carried out.
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. The special microclimate of natural and artificial mines used for treatment is characterized by stable temperature values and a high level of ionization, almost complete absence of pathogenic microorganisms and allergens, dry and clean air saturated with ions of mineral salts. It is important to note that speleotherapy of children is possible, since this treatment method did not reveal any side effects.
History of occurrence
Researchers of this therapeutic method of treatment agree that it originated more than two thousand years ago. Even the priests of ancient Greece recommended that patients with asthma and coughing attacks visit salt caves, and Israeli healers worked and treated in such dungeons. In the chronicles of ancient India, there are references to the fact that it was in salt grottoes and caves that the soldiers after the battles rested and recovered. Over time, such a simple and effective way of healing has been forgotten.
To the question of speleotherapy - what it is, and how the air of salt dungeons affects the human body, scientists turned in the middle of the 20th century. The Germans were the first to show interest in this issue, and after them the Polish, Austrian, Czech doctors. Special speleological clinics and hospitals 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 treatment. For people with diseases of the respiratory and nervous systems, skin diseases, rooms began to be created in which the atmosphere of the caves was artificially recreated and filled with salt aerosols. This direction was called halotherapy, since speleotherapy is possible only in natural conditions.
Where to find the caves?
After patients from different countries received the first ideas about speleotherapy - what is it and how effective are its methods, as well as with the advent of new scientific data, various types of clinics, hospitals and hospitals were created in many countries. So, in Austria, technogenic radon adits in Bad Gastein were used, and in Poland - the Wieliczka salt mines.
In modern Russia, this treatment method is used in sanatoriums and hospitals established in the Perm, Tyumen and Sverdlovsk regions, the Krasnodar Territory, as well as in the Moscow Region.
There are also speleotherapeutic resorts in the neighboring countries , for example, the Soligorsk salt mines in Belarus, the Kyrgyz Chon-Guz, and the caves of Duzdag in Azerbaijan.
How it works?
It should be noted that speleotherapy is a rather specific and unusual method of treatment for us, in which the main influencing factor is the special microclimate and the air of underground caves. The peculiarity of this method is that in order to obtain a result, it is necessary to be underground for quite some time.
Research by scientists has shown that caves have a really special microclimate:
1. The air is saturated with negative ions and mineral salts.
2. The constancy of the gas and ionic composition of the air.
3. The almost complete absence of allergens, dust of pathogens, due to which:
- the number of circulating immune complexes that damage normal cells and cause inflammatory processes is reduced;
- the number of T-lymphocytes responsible for the recognition and destruction of foreign agents increases;
- the phagocytic activity of cells is enhanced;
- the content of immunoglobulins is normalized.
4. Low relative humidity.
5. Stable and not subject to sudden changes in temperature and pressure.
6. A slight increase in the background radiation, especially in karst formations.
7. Slightly increased carbon dioxide content.
For each of the caves used for healing, these characteristics have different and unique meanings.
Specific and nonspecific effects
Thanks to all of the above factors, cave air contributes to the improvement and normalization of protein and carbohydrate metabolic processes in the body, cleanses the respiratory system from harmful substances, resins and dust, helps to thin and remove sputum. All these are specific effects, but besides them, there are so-called non-specific effects.
These effects include:
- gravitational and electromagnetic fields;
- acoustic vibrations;
- special psychological attitude.
It is the specific and nonspecific effects of the effects of the "cave" treatment that lead to an overall positive result. Unfortunately, the speleotherapy offered at the clinic or health center today cannot compare with the effects of real underground hospitals.
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 the disease, doctors carry out the selection of climatic factors, the concentration of various salts and the individual time spent in the cave. However, along with many advantages, speleotherapy has contraindications and is not suitable for everyone.
This treatment method is indicated for diseases such as:
- various types of bronchial asthma;
- chronic bronchitis and pneumonia;
- hay fever;
- hypertension of I and II-A stages;
- psychosomatic disorders (sleep disturbances, headaches, chronic fatigue syndrome);
- chronic diseases of the upper respiratory tract:
- sore throat,
- rhinitis
sinusitis
- laryngitis,
- adenoiditis
- tonsillitis,
- pharyngitis;
- atopic dermatitis, eczema and psoriasis without exacerbation;
- drug and food allergies.
In addition, to restore immunity after diseases and surgical interventions on the respiratory system.
Contraindications
Like most medical methods, in addition to advantages, speleotherapy has contraindications. These include:
1. Mental disorders and diseases.
2. Any disease in the acute phase.
3. Tumors and oncological diseases.
4. Severe forms of hypertension and bronchial asthma.
5. Diseases of the circulatory system and hematopoiesis.
6. The active form of tuberculosis.
7. Pregnancy.
Before planning treatment with speleotherapeutic methods, be sure to consult your doctor.
Can children be?
Children from the age of two can also be in salt caves and mines. It should only be remembered that up to five years of age, one of the parents must accompany the child. Until the age of 10, babies can only receive daytime sessions of procedures lasting about 1.5-2 hours. Children over 10 years of age can also be assigned night speleotherapy sessions, lasting up to 9 hours.
Is speleotherapy effective for children? Parents reviews, in most cases, are positive. Children not only went to the caves with pleasure, but their health also improved markedly. In some cases, there was a lasting improvement and even a complete absence of allergic reactions after returning to the familiar environment.
However, among those parents whose children underwent speleotherapy treatment, there are those who believe that it did not help or had a slight positive effect. These are mainly those whose children showed a slight deterioration at the very beginning of treatment and whom the doctors gave them a “respite” so that the body could rest and get used to. In fact, there is nothing to worry about, since in a similar 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 helped to correct and restore the health of many people. Of course, if you have financial opportunities and a special room, you can make an artificial salt cave in your own home. But it is worth noting that speleotherapy at home is not as effective as in natural, and besides, you need to know exactly how long the exposure should occur and whether all this will help with your disease.