Salt caves: reviews. Salt caves: indications and contraindications. Salt caves are a gift for your health. What are their benefits and harms, how do salt caves affect health

Basic skin care is regular cleansing, toning and moisturizing. In addition, skin care involves the use of masks, peels, massages and all sorts of other useful procedures. This is the basic complex that every modern woman should know and master. But, not every woman knows such an important and informative fact that salt caves are good for the skin. As you already understood, we will talk about salt caves, their benefits in preserving the beauty and health of a woman.

I will answer frequently asked questions about salt caves in terms of preserving beauty and youth.

What are salt caves and where are they located?

Medicinal properties salt caves have been known since ancient times. Therefore, this type of therapy, called speleotherapy, is widely used in a number of resorts located near salt mines in countries such as: Poland, Austria, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Romania and other countries.

In modern conditions, halotherapy (treatment with salt, "halos" - salt) is also carried out in artificially created "caves" - halochambers. As in salt caves, the same method of therapeutic therapy is used in halochambers - treatment with salt dust.

The advantage of natural natural "health resorts" is that they are unique creations of nature, produce a positive emotional and psychological effect on the entire treatment process. The uniqueness of the speleosanatorium lies in the fact that it has created a natural microclimate of salt mines, which includes more than forty different factors that are difficult to recreate on the surface artificially.

What are the benefits of salt caves for the skin?

Treatment with salt caves is primarily recommended for diseases of the respiratory system, in particular for bronchial asthma. But not everyone knows that salt caves are very beneficial for the skin. As you know, salt has found wide application in various skin diseases. Since the main treatment in salt caves is salt, this is where the benefits of salt caves come up in preserving and maintaining beauty. The main indications for treatment in salt caves are such skin pathologies as:

Atopic dermatosis in the stabilization stage;

Psoriasis in the stabilization stage;

Oily seborrhea;

Pustular skin lesions, acne.

Thus, salt treatment has always been and is effective for owners of problematic oily skin.

Cognitive fact: five sessions in a salt cave are equivalent in their effectiveness to a week's stay on the sea coast. That is, even if your skin is pretty good, salt has a good disinfecting, antiseptic effect. Therefore, this procedure is recommended to maintain the health and immunity of the skin. The relaxing effect obtained in the salt caves has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, and therefore on the preservation of the youth of your skin.

How often is it necessary to take courses of therapeutic therapy with the help of salt caves?

If you are undergoing a preventive course of general health improvement, then there are no strict limits and the need for mandatory repetitions of procedures. But if you are treating a specific skin disease, then at least twice a year you need to undergo a full treatment course of 10-12 procedures.

Drawing conclusions

When relaxing in resorts, do not forget about the natural "health resorts". Thanks to salt caves, the most valuable gifts of nature, we can keep our skin in perfect condition, and, if necessary, get rid of unhealthy skin problems.

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

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

So what's the salt?

Cave air contains calcium, magnesium, sodium salts and negative ions.

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

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

Healing properties of speleotherapy

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

What are the benefits of visiting the salt mines?

First, the human body must adapt to new conditions, and only after that comes the therapeutic effect. 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:

• Normalizes blood circulation and heart function;
• The immune system improves;
• Pass allergic and inflammatory processes;
• The lungs are cleansed and moistened;
• Deep breathing is stimulated.

In addition, the atmosphere in the cave causes calmness and relaxation, positively affects the psycho-emotional state. During your stay in salt mine the patient rests calmly, 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 to relieve fatigue and irritation, improve sleep and increase the tone of the body as a whole.

Contraindications for speleotherapy

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

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

Artificial analogues of salt caves

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

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

There are salt rooms not only in sanatoriums, but also in many hospitals, SPA centers, kindergartens and offices.

Salt lamp - another modern invention that recreates the atmosphere of a salt cave and ionizes the air. It is a block of rock salt on a wooden stand. Inside this crystal there is a hole with a lamp installed in it. As the lamp heats up, the salt evaporates through the small holes.

A salt block can be natural, unprocessed, or some interesting form made by hand. This salt lamp combined with subdued light creates a soothing, pleasant atmosphere.

In the old days, it was believed that salt has magical properties, protects against witchcraft and the evil eye, and serves as a talisman. Now she also continues to bring health benefits, good luck and amazing peace to the one who inhales her healing vapors.

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 a psychiatrist, a specialist in space medicine A. Lebedev in the complex Snezhnaya system on the Bzyb massif (Georgia).

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

The experiment was "out of time" (only the leader had a watch). A number of interesting features were revealed: when overcoming especially difficult sections, the time was "compacted" (13 hours were estimated by different participants at 3-5); in underground base camps elongated or shortened days (54-20 hours) were formed; despite this, there was no "disorder" of the physiological processes and the mental state of the athletes.

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

The physiological departures, inhibited on the route, were completely restored in the underground camps: the sleep was deep, almost without dreams. But on the surface, psychological relaxation set in: the participants in the experiment were overcome by disturbing dreams - falling into a stream, falling into a well.

Many of them got 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 to the Snezhnaya cave in 1982-1983, carried out by the staff of the Department of Normal Physiology of the Peoples' Friendship University (headed by Prof. N. Agadzhanyan).

Four people (including doctor V. Yeshchenko), descending to a depth of 1320 m, performed a large amount of search and biomedical (measurement of temperature, amount of fluid drunk, blood tests, psychophysical tests) studies.

The received materials gave a lot of new to specialists. Well, it is interesting for non-specialists to know that cavers lived on "stretched" 50-hour days; that the average value of the score "well-being + activity + mood" changed along a sinusoid with maxima on the 4th, 12, 18, 26, 34 and 48 days and minima 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 (by 5-8 s) acceleration, and on the 24th day - an abrupt slowdown (the real minute was estimated at 100-110 s).

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

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

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

The adaptive capabilities of a person 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 day, since shortening them means for him to exceed the normal hourly energy consumption, which would lead to overstrain.

So, perhaps, teams of cosmonauts and speleologists will soon be recruited not only for scientific, physiological and psychological reasons, but also taking into account their "appetite".

Under ground for health

Beliefs that life underground brings eternal youth, health and longevity go back to hoary antiquity. In the IV century. BC e. in the region of Pergamon (Asia Minor), an underground temple of the god-healer Asclepius is being built. Its surviving part consists of two 50-meter tunnels and great hall with columns.

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

The medicinal properties of various cave deposits were known as early as the 6th-5th centuries. BC e.

In the warm Sicilian cave of Kronio, drops of water were collected in terracotta vessels and used for healing. gastric 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, crowbar 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 incrustations (pressure bandages), zinc silicate - galley (eye diseases) were used as a remedy.

Alchemists considered the mummified corpses of people and animals from the 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 XX century. uses nests of stone swifts for medicinal purposes (fighting anemia, raising the tone of the body).

The traveler V. Berkh wrote in 1821 that droppers in the Divya cave in the Urals "benefit from external diseases." In the 20th century, a special explanation was even needed from the Minister of Health in the newspaper "Soviet Bashkiria" (10/12/1965) that crushed streaks from it do not have healing properties.

Shilajit certainly occupies an exceptional place among cave deposits used as medicine. It has been known to oriental medicine for more than 3 thousand years, it 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 sung in the verses of medieval poets. In the XX century. scientific symposiums are held on the problem of mummy (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, representing the most valuable remedy," the attitude of official medicine towards it is cool.

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

What is a mummy?

It is a word of Greek origin, meaning "preserving the body." In different regions, behind it, obviously, there are formations of different origin, 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.

Shilajit is found in rock crevices and in caves, in small sheds and in huge grottoes. It is found in Central Asia and in Antarctica, in Iran and in Transbaikalia, at an altitude of 500 to 3200 m above sea level. Using the most advanced chemical and isotopic methods, geochemists R. Yusupov and E. Galimov proposed a single formula for different samples of Shilajit: 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 mummy from different locations?

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

Hot Shilajit is a water-insoluble asphalt-like substance that smells like oil. It is about him that Ibn-Sina (Avicenna) and Ahmad al-Biruni write in their treatises. In Egypt, such a mummy was used to embalm mummies. It was mined in areas of natural oil outlets.

Cold mummy is formed in various ways. Caves contain botanogenic evaporites, botanic evaporites and coprolites. Botanogenic evaporites - mummy, resulting from the dissolution of the organic matter of dead plant residues, runoff and gradual evaporation of aqueous solutions.

Such a mummy was found in the Akhalkalaki cave (Georgia). Botanocoprogenic evaporites accumulate in the crevices of arches during the evaporation of solutions containing organic matter of dead plants, bird and animal droppings in different proportions. Most of the shilajit locations belong to this class (North Ossetia, middle Asia, Tien Shan, etc.).

Coprolites are formed mainly from the droppings of flying squirrels. This class includes its Trans-Baikal variety - brakshun. The origin of the Antarctic Shilajit is still unclear. It is a product of plant (fungal) or organic (snow petrel saliva) origin. The age of the brakshuna is 50-75 years, the mummy of other classes is less than 1000 years old.

Thus, his riddle is still far from being solved. The locations of the mummy require protection, since now they are being rapaciously ruined by "folk healers".

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

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

Deep heating in the "steam baths of Callochero" (Sicily) contributes to the treatment of rheumatism, various neuralgia, nephritis, respiratory diseases, diseases of the lymphatic system, skin and metabolism. In the cave of Viterbo (Italy) they make steam baths used to treat arthritis, arthrosis, diseases of the joints and muscles.

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

Watered thermal caves with underground lakes, rivers and springs providing rather hot (28-42 °C) water are much more widespread. Water often carbonates CO2 or hydrogen sulfide, forming accumulations of therapeutic mud in the deposits at the exit from the cave. It has a different (usually sulfate, sulfate-alkaline or sulfate composition), contains a number of microcomponents, and is sometimes weakly radioactive.

In such caves, inhalations are carried out (bronchial asthma), baths are taken (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 (Aquasanta, Viterbo, Kronio, Montesummao, San Marino, Sulfurea). They are known in Hungary (Tavas, Szent-Istvan, 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.

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

The failure that formed above the dome of a large karst cavity was covered with a wooden platform, from which, with the help of a gate, thrill-seekers in a wicker basket descended 40 m to an underground lake, bathed in its warm (22-42 ° C) water and returned back. M. Yu. Lermontov was among the first daredevils.

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

There are also good prospects for organizing treatment in the Bakharden 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 in an abandoned in the XVI century. The Bad Hallstein mine (Germany) resumed gold mining. The miners noticed that most of them were cured of rheumatism.

Subsequent studies have shown 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 developments of silver-lead ores are equipped as hospitals for the treatment of joints.

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

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

In 1839, doctor D. Krogan acquired the right to exploit the 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 centenarians (90-100 years old) among the tribes living in the caves of the Saharan Atlas.

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

Subsequent studies have confirmed this. In Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia), a number of speleological clinics were organized in the middle of the 20th century. In 1965, a speleotherapy commission was established 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 content of CO2 (0.3-3.0 versus 0.03% on the surface) increases the volume of breathing by 1.0-1.5 l/min, and promotes deeper ventilation of the lungs; high air ionization and the presence of aerosols of different composition help to 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 in it 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, both the maximum and minimum pressure decrease), cardiosclerosis (in elderly patients), hypotension, neurocircular dystonia, and informational neurosis.

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

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

The occurrence of mass psychoses based on the "miracle of healing" is sometimes associated with the 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" illumined by the radiance, emerging from the grotto with 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 herself to be the Virgin Mary and promised that henceforth the water flowing from the grotto would bring healing from ailments to all zealous Catholics...

The rumor about the miraculous source spread throughout France. In 1864, a Kurdish basilica was built here with private donations, now one of the richest temples in Europe. By special edict of the Pope, Lourdes was declared a place of annual pilgrimage.

"Not only France, the whole of Europe, the whole world set off on a journey, and in some years of especially religious upsurge there were up to 500 thousand people there," E. Zola wrote in 1894 in the 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 those healed ...

Science fiction writers closely follow the caves as providers of new scientific knowledge. On little known fact the almost complete absence of allergens in the air of karst cavities built the plot of the story of the English writer K. Enville "Heuristics".

A criminal who stole important drawings took refuge in a large multi-entry cave. Couldn't 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.

The pollen of meadow flowers, picked up by the air current, spread throughout the labyrinth and found its target. The offender was betrayed by a cough alternating with a loud sneeze - he suffered from hay fever ...

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

The healing factor, in addition to the usual for cold caves, here is a 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 the acceleration of wound healing has been revealed.

In Europe, there are several salt mines 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 an object of tourism, and in the 50s. in the development, a hospital was equipped for children with whooping cough.

At the same time, a hospital was opened at a depth of 400 m in the Schönebock mine (Germany). The 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), Proida (Romania, since 1975).

In the CIS countries, clinics have been 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 Solotvino hospital, which has become the base for conducting "salt therapy" among the workings that mined rock salt. The speleotherapy department of the allergological hospital consists of a complex of mine workings for the accommodation of 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 have been carved into the walls of the galleries.

In the boxes made of glass profiles there are rooms for functional diagnostics, electrolight therapy, a dining room, a gymnastics hall, 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.

The main parameters in the treatment rooms: 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.; the content of aerosols is 2.5-4.0 mg/m3, NaCl in aerosols is 99-100%, the amount of oxygen is 20.8% by volume, carbon dioxide is 0.03-0.04% by volume, bacterial contamination is 7-100 microorganisms per m3 ; illumination 80-120 lux, noise 27-28 decibels.

The underground department is designed for the simultaneous reception of 120 patients. 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%.

The healing properties of salt caves have been known to mankind for more than 2000 years. People have learned to artificially create a healing microclimate that reigns in real underground caves. This method of treatment is official medicine called "speleotherapy". Its effectiveness is recognized worldwide. This is a non-drug aerotherapeutic treatment in special comfortable halochambers.

artificial salt caves reviews are positive. Many note an improvement in their general condition. In a few sessions, allergies disappear and immunity is strengthened. However, this method also has opponents who deny the positive impact and consider speleotherapy a meaningless procedure. With this opinion, many practitioners can argue. Let us describe all the advantages of the halochamber.

A bit of history

The healing power of salt crystals has been noticed for a long time. Modern history has become interested in the benefits of the air of underground caves in the last century. The first researchers were German scientists who began to actively build speleological clinics.

The method received instant appreciation from satisfied patients. On the territory of Russia, a similar one filled with salt aerosol was founded in 1977 in Perm region. Soon people with chronic and pathologies of the respiratory system were drawn here.

Today, experts consider speleotherapy to be a more effective procedure compared to cavitation therapy (inhalation of sea air). Salt caves operate in Moscow and outside the Russian Federation. Many sanatoriums and boarding houses have specialized rooms that recreate the healing atmosphere of the dungeons.

Healing properties

A huge advantage of speleotherapy is the variability of the procedure. Based on the individual characteristics, course and severity of the disease, a combination of climatic factors and salt concentrations is selected. Getting into an unusual zone, a person experiences a surge of strength, his defense systems are activated and his psycho-emotional state stabilizes.

Benefits for children

In the center "Salmed" there is a salt cave (Yaroslavl). The administration invites for the treatment of small children from two years old. In special halochambers, children will be able to recuperate, recharge their batteries, get rid of allergies and a constant runny nose. The main indications are:

Chronical bronchitis;

Asthma (in remission);

Allergic rhinitis and dermatitis;

Pollinosis;

Adenoids.

The session lasts from 1.5 to 2 hours. The average number of procedures is 10-15. Children under the age of five are only allowed if accompanied by an adult.

Salt caves: contraindications to visiting the halochamber

Despite the seeming harmlessness and safety of the method, it still has some limitations. Persons with acute pathologies, tuberculosis, general exhaustion, mental and nervous disorders are not allowed. You can not visit salt caves with oncological diseases. The contraindications do not stop there. The limitations include pregnancy at any time and pathological processes of the respiratory system.

Operating principle

The healing effect is easily explained by science. Salt mines, mines and karst caves have a unique microclimate, with a comfortable temperature, low humidity, a certain pressure, and a high content of salt microparticles and carbon dioxide. And most importantly, there is no harmful dust and allergens in the atmosphere.

All of these characteristics and factors have a positive effect on the health of a person who lives in a gassed metropolis. A stable air environment is constantly maintained by an ultrasonic nebulizer. Finely dispersed aerosol forms a number of health-improving factors. That is why salt caves are so popular. Reviews ordinary people clearly confirm this.

Visiting Rules

Many medical centers specialize in speleotherapy. Several halochambers (salt cave) were opened in St. Petersburg. You can get treatment by appointment and after consulting a doctor. You will receive a disposable bathrobe and shoe covers from the administrator. It is not allowed to bring any items with you.

Do not use perfume before the procedure. You should stop smoking approximately 30-40 minutes before the session. Persons under the influence of alcohol are not allowed in the premises. To achieve a therapeutic effect, you will need to go through at least 10 procedures for 40 minutes.

Digest

Salt caves regularly receive enthusiastic reviews. According to patients, after several sessions, working capacity increased, depression and drowsiness disappeared. And after 5-7 procedures, the characteristic symptoms of bronchial asthma and cough disappeared.

Parents who took their children to speleotherapy were satisfied with the result: they managed to get rid of seasonal allergies, chronic rhinitis and strengthen immunity. After completing the full course, frequent colds ceased to bother. Pricing policy is acceptable for different segments of the population.

Speleotherapy (gr. speleon- cave) - a method of treatment by a long stay in a kind of microclimate of natural karst caves, grottoes, salt mines, artificially traversed mine workings of metal, salt and potash mines.

There are no more than 30 underground sanatoriums in the world.

In Russia, the only speleological clinic in the potash mine in Berezniki was closed in 2006 due to an emergency situation at the mine.

Vorontsov caves

From the history of speleotherapy or cave treatment

The history of speleotherapy has about 2500 years. In the IV century. BC. in the region of Pergamon (Asia Minor), an underground temple of the god-healer Asclepius was built. Its surviving part consists of two 50-meter tunnels and a large hall with columns. Pliny the Elder (79-23 BC) in the 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, crowbar in the shoulders and lower back, stabbing in the side, pain in the stomach."

Thermal caves, which are characterized by a rather high air temperature, its high humidity and radioactivity, began to be used for medicinal purposes earlier than others. In Italy, in 1849, quarry workers located near Monsummano found an unusual grotto. Located at a depth of 300 m, the grotto was striking in its beauty: it was filled with bizarre stalactites and stalagmites, steam mysteriously swirled over a small picturesque lake. Some of the cave explorers noticed that their joint pains and coughs were gone. The owners of the quarries, the family of the poet Giuseppe Giusti, set up “treatment rooms” in the cave.

In the silver mines near the Austrian city of Oberzeiring, treatment under the supervision of doctors began to be carried out in the 19th century. At present, a speleological clinic for the rehabilitation center for pulmonological patients has been built in the adits. In Austria, the world's first society for the study of caves, distinguished by a scientific orientation, was formed.

The first radon speleological clinic was discovered in the resort of Bad Kreuznach, where in 1904 Karl Aschoff discovered the radioactivity of the sources, and in 1912 the radioactivity of the air adits. Soon the first emanatorium was built in the resort, which was destroyed during the Second World War. In subsequent years, the research results of Dr. K. Aschoff were confirmed by the research of Professor Shemintsky (University of Innsbruck) and Professor Muth (University of Saar), and patients were again admitted to the radon adit.

Austrian resort Bad Gastein (Bad Gastein Bad Gastein) famous radon galleries over 2 km long. Three healing factors in the tunnels of the Redhouse Mountain - the content of radon in the air (4.1 nCi / l), air temperature from 38 to 41.5 ° C, relative air humidity close to 100% - were discovered “accidentally”, after the healing of the miners from rheumatism. Among the indications for treatment in radon galleries, the main place is occupied by degenerative and rheumatic diseases of the musculoskeletal system, neuralgia, long-term non-healing wounds, and skin diseases. The effectiveness of treatment in radon galleries for allergic respiratory diseases, including bronchial asthma, has also been proven.

Therapeutic effect of the microclimate of karst caves also discovered by chance. During World War II in a karst cave Klutert near the city of Ennepetal b, federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, a bomb shelter was set up. People stayed in the cave for a long time, and what a surprise it was when patients with bronchitis and asthma found that with each air raid, cough and shortness of breath bothered them less and less. German researchers summarize data on the benefits of long stay a large number people in a karst cave. In the post-war years, Doctor of Medicine K. Spannagel conducted clinical and experimental studies that confirmed the therapeutic effect of the microclimate of the caves. The results of these studies and the joint work of Dr. K.Kh. Spannagel and the Hungarian geologist, the famous speleologist Dr. H. Kessler, laid the foundation for modern speleotherapy.

The first speleological clinic in a karst cave was equipped in November 1954. The spelunking clinic in the Klütert Cave entered the German Spa Association as a climatic health resort "Ennepetal mit Klimahöhle". The method was called speleoclimatotherapy. In Germany, the German Union of Speleotherapy (Deutschen Speläotherapieverband) was created, uniting 12 speleological clinics created in salt mines and karst caves; the method is called Höhlentherapie (cave therapy) or Heilstollentherapie (healing galleries). Doctors of the German Union of Speleotherapy recommend daily procedures in the speleotherapy clinic for 2 hours, a course lasting at least three weeks.

The mechanism of therapeutic effects of speleotherapy in karst caves

The effectiveness of speleotherapy in underground clinics was first associated with the peculiarity of the microclimate under the vaults of karst caves in 1980, 20 years after the widespread introduction of speleotherapy into clinical practice.

• Low (6-12 ° C), but constant air temperature contributes to the narrowing of dilated blood vessels;
• The high content of carbon dioxide (СО₂ 0.3–3.0% versus 0.03% on the surface) increases the volume of breathing 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 to reduce swelling of the mucous membranes; proven bactericidal and fungiostatic effect of negative ions;
• High humidity (95-100%) contributes to the deep penetration of charged particles and aerosols into the respiratory tract;
• High air purity (less than 150 microbes per 1 m³), ​​the absence of allergens in it leads to a decrease in the blood levels of immunoglobulins A, G and E, antibodies, circulating immune complexes;
• The silence of the caves and the feeling of isolation from the "aggressive" external environment have a psychological impact, allowing you to better perceive the rest of the healing factors.

When inhaling the air of karst caves with a moderately low temperature, low relative humidity and high carbon dioxide content, the mechanisms of thermoregulation are activated, accompanied by an acceleration of metabolic processes, an increase in oxygen consumption by tissues, and an improvement in the function of external respiration and blood circulation.

The mechanism of therapeutic effects of speleotherapy in salt caves

The assumption that The main therapeutic effect in speleotherapy is provided by air saturated with salt dust of sodium chloride., was first expressed by the Polish doctor Felix Bochkovsky in 1843. At the same time, the first sanatorium in Wieliczka was opened. In 1958, its activities were resumed on the initiative of Professor Mieczysław Skolimowski. He was the first in the 1960s. laid the foundation for scientific research in a new field of medicine - subterraneotherapy. Later, treatment by the microclimate of the caves was called speleotherapy.

The effectiveness of speleotherapy in the conditions of salt speleo-hospitals is due, first of all, to climatic features caves: temperature, humidity, gas composition and increased air ionization, absence of allergens.

The microclimate of speleological clinics in salt caves is distinguished by the fact of stability: the complete absence of pollen allergens, practically sterile air (3-5 microbes per 1 m³), ​​high air ionization (up to 4000-5000 light negative ions and 2200-3000 positive air ions). The air temperature is 8-10 °C all year round. The gamma background does not exceed the level on the earth's surface.

In addition, in the air of the salt mines there are charged particles of salt aerosols up to 5 microns in size, which are able to penetrate far into the respiratory tract, which has several biological effects. Inhalation of air ions leads to increased movement of the villi of the ciliated epithelium of the trachea and bronchi, providing sanitation of the respiratory tract. The chemical components of salt change the electrolyte balance of smooth muscle fibers, which leads to their relaxation and increases the number of fully ventilated alveoli: lung ventilation improves, oxygen diffusion rate, and its utilization by various body tissues.

Speleotherapy in the conditions of karst and salt caves has a pronounced elimination effect in allergic asthma and respiratory allergies. Speleotherapy in the course of treatment improves the drainage function of the bronchi, helps to reduce the inflammatory reaction of the mucosa of the upper and lower respiratory tract, and increases the overall nonspecific and immunological reactivity of the body. Bronchial asthma and respiratory allergies occupy the first place in the list of indications for speleotherapy.

Treatment in the conditions of speleological clinics in salt and karst caves makes it possible to achieve remission from 6 months to 3 years in 70-80% of patients.

Speleotherapy in karst caves

At present, speleological clinics in the conditions of karst caves have been built in Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Georgia, Italy, the USA, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Uzbekistan.

Speleotherapy in Hungary held in 6 karst caves. There are more than 700 caves in Hungary. In the toponym of the capital of Hungary "Budapest", "caves" are present twice: "Pest" has Slavic roots and comes from the word "peshtera". The Germans still call the second part of the proud - "I will be" "Ofen", which translates both as "furnace" and as "cave". Semlohedi Cave in Budapest has been used for speleotherapy since 1990. In the giant corridor there is a clinic, which is a department of the St. Janos Clinic. Underground spleleological clinic is located in the largest in Europe stalactite cave in Aggtelek included in the list of the World cultural heritage. The length of its section in Hungary is 17 km. Through an artificial underground corridor in Joshvafyo you can get to beke cave, in which asthma patients undergo a course of speleotherapy, as well as in the 30 m high stalactite hall of the Giants. Located on the territory of the Bük National Park St. Stephen's Cave previously used exclusively for tourism purposes. Since 1991, speleotherapy has been carried out in the Black Hall of the cave. Speleological clinic is arranged in Abaliguete cave in the northeastern part of the foothills of Mechek, in the vicinity of the city of Pecs.

Speleological clinic in the resort of Tapolca in Hungary, you can go down from the lobby of the four-star Pelion Hotel, built in 2003 over a karst cave. Thanks to its special microclimate, characterized by a constant temperature (14-16 °C), high humidity, lack of dust and allergens, patients with respiratory diseases have been successfully treated here for several decades. On the recommendation of the WHO World Organization Health), with the participation of the scientific committee of The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), a special program for the treatment of asthma was developed, which was put into practice at the medical center of the Pelion Hotel by the Professional College of Pulmonologists and Pediatricians of Hungary. The hotel has two departments of pediatric pulmonology, a diagnostic department, and an inhalation room.

In Slovakia first speleological clinic in Gombasek karst cave in the eastern part of the Ore Mountains was opened in 1972, and ten years later was built children's underground sanatorium Bystrya in the Low Tatras at an altitude of 2024 m above sea level. To ensure a more complete inhalation of the healing air of the underground hospital for children, they alternate active games, yoga classes and periods of relaxation with reading fairy tales.

IN Czech speleological clinics for children with respiratory diseases arranged in the caves of the Moravian Karst: South Moravia(Ostrov u Macochy and Mladec-Vojtechov) and in the northern part of Moravia (Zlate Hory - "Edel"). The place of Zlaty Gory, located not far from the famous resort of Jesenik at an altitude of 620 m above sea level, from the middle of the XIX century. considered one of the best climatic resorts for the treatment of patients with respiratory diseases, and in 1993 a rehabilitation center "Edel" for children with respiratory problems. Two years later, 7 km from the sanatorium, a speleological clinic was built in a karst cave with a network of underground corridors of 1600 m, with maximum depth about 93 m and a year-round temperature of 7-8 °C. The underground galleries are equipped with playgrounds for playing volleyball, basketball, table tennis, game rooms, "bedrooms".

The duration of speleotherapy in Czech healing caves is about three hours. Treatment programs consist of 9 blocks of 20 minutes in which active games and breathing exercises alternate with periods of relaxation. Children aged 3 to 15 years old are accepted for speleotherapy in the direction of allergists, with payment by insurance companies of the Czech Republic. The duration of treatment is determined by the director of the sanatorium, as a rule, for children of school age 5 weeks, for preschoolers 6-7 weeks.

Speleotherapy in salt caves

In addition to natural caves, artificial caves, often salt ones, are also used for speleotherapy. These are either abandoned workings of salt mines, or niches specially carved in the thickness of the salt layer, where speleological clinics are equipped.

Speleological clinics operate in the salt mines of Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Romania, Ukraine. In Russia, the first underground sanatorium is being built in the salt mines of Sol-Iletsk.

About Polish Wieliczki, near Krakow, in 1958, a sanatorium for 70 people was opened in an old salt mine at a depth of 200 m, and years later a speleological clinic was opened in Praida salt caves (Romania).

Salt cave "Velichka" better known for tourist routes, underground restaurants, a museum, but there is also a speleological clinic at a depth of 135 m.

Speleological clinic Bochnia was built in the oldest salt mine in Poland, Bochnia, 40 km east of Krakow. After almost eight centuries of operation, the mine resembles a vast underground city, where part of the unique workings is used for medicinal purposes. In the salt cave "Wessel Lake", equipped with exercise machines, daily 7-hour healing procedures within the framework of 14-day rehabilitation programs.

Romania leading in the number of salt caves. In Transylvania, salt mining was carried out 5,000 years before our era, salt mines were actively developed during the Roman Empire. Later, when the surface salt deposits dried up, salt was mined using the mine method. In many salt caves formed as a result of salt mining, caving clinics and even entertainment centers have been built.

Salt mines of Salina Turda(Salina Turda) in Transylvania is one of the most unusual tourist centers in Romania. Salt mining, which began under the Romans, was stopped in 1932. In 1992, the salt mine was transformed into tourist centre on the site of which in 2010 a grandiose entertainment center was built with an underground lake, a bowling alley, concert halls, a Ferris wheel and a panoramic elevator. Treatment under the supervision of doctors is not carried out, the benefits of the climate of the salt caves of Salina Turda have been proven experimentally.

In Praida Salt Caves (Jozsef Cave) in Romania the first speleological clinic was built at a depth of 120 m. In the underground clinic, which is 14 m high, 20 m wide and several hundred meters long, located at a distance of 1250 m from the entrance, 2500-3000 visitors are delivered daily in the summer months by a special bus. The salt cave has a large children's playground, billiard tables, gyms, comfortable chairs - everything that makes a four-hour daily stay in the underground hospital comfortable, recommended by doctors in the treatment of respiratory diseases. Speleotherapy includes medical gymnastics under the guidance of experienced instructors, walks with a gradual increase in physical activity. Patients aged 2 to 60 years are accepted for treatment. According to the results of many years of observations by the pulmonologist F. Emese, after 3-4 procedures of spleen treatment, the frequency and intensity of asthma attacks in bronchial asthma are significantly reduced, coughing is reduced, and the body's resistance is increased.

Not far from the famous resort Romania Slanic Moldova another Romanian speleological clinic was built. The largest sanatorium in Europe is located in the salt grottoes of Tirgu Okna. Chambers, a bowling alley, sports grounds are equipped in huge spacious halls. According to the observations of the doctors of the Slanic Moldova resort, the effectiveness of the treatment of bronchial asthma in children is 90%.

Romanian resort Slanic Prahova known for one of the largest salt caves in Europe, consisting of two different levels of caves - Unirea and Mihai. In the old salt adit, at a depth of 210 m, a speleological clinic is equipped for the treatment of patients with respiratory diseases. In the salt cave of Unirea, you can admire the busts and sculptures made of salt.

In Ukraine, the development of speleotherapy began in 1968 with the opening of the first underground hospital in the USSR regional allergological hospital in Solotvyno, small village in the foothills Ukrainian Carpathians in the valley of the Tisza River with a mild foothill climate. Soon, in 1976, another underground hospital was opened in Solotvino. For the first time in the world, salt mines were drilled for an underground hospital according to a special project.

The Ukrainian Allergological Hospital in Solotvyno in the Transcarpathian region was the first in the former USSR, where the method of speleotherapy was used in the treatment of patients with bronchial asthma and other respiratory diseases in the microclimate of salt mines.
Speleotherapy sessions in Solotvyno were held in an underground department specially built in the thickness of the salt massif at a depth of 300 m from the surface of the earth. Speleological clinic, which consisted of a system of galleries with a total length of 600 m, average height up to 6 m and a width of up to 12 m was designed for the simultaneous reception of 190 people.

Underground speleological clinics in the salt mines of Solotvyno are currently not functioning. In September 2008, after a breakthrough of water in the ventilation shaft, the speleological hospital of the Allergy Hospital of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine was closed. In May 2009, after another water breakthrough, the regional allergological hospital was closed.

Belarusian Republican Allergological Hospital in Soligorsk was built in 1985 in a depleted salt mine at a depth of 430 m in the Soligorsk potassium salt basin. Part of the underground chambers of the speleological clinic are located in the potash layer, others are in the rock salt massif, where patients rest, inhaling the healing light ions released by sylvinite and salt layers, and various procedures are carried out in the medical building on the picturesque shore of the reservoir: electro-, phototherapy, massages, inhalations , baths that reinforce the effect of underground air therapy. According to the doctor's instructions, patients go down to the speleological clinic either during the day for 6 hours or at night for 12 hours. Course of treatment: 18 days.

Speleological clinic of the health-improving center Chon-Tuz in Kyrgyzstan It was built in 1981 in specially made salt mines at an altitude of 2100 m above sea level, near the village. Kochkorka, Naryn region. The unique combination of such natural factors as high mountains and increased concentration of aerions in cave mines helps with many respiratory diseases. In Chon-Tuz (Kyrgyzstan), the age is also limited - 5-65 years.

Sylvinite speleological clinic in a potash mine in the city of Berezniki, Perm Region at the Verkhnekamsk potash deposit was opened in 1977. It was the first such speleological clinic not only in Russia, but also in the world. Clinical Efficiency underground speleotherapy in the speleological hospital of Berezniki (15 years of observation) was 85.2% (in patients with severe bronchial asthma - 42.8%). At the same time, the positive effect of speleotherapy in patients with bronchial asthma was maintained for 1-3 years in 93% of cases. But the small capacity of the spleen clinic does not even satisfy the needs of the city of Berezniki, not to mention the entire Perm region. In 2006, due to an emergency situation at the mine, the speleological clinic in the potash mines in Berezniki was closed.

In the literature about spa treatment you can find a description of speleotherapy in Sol-Iletsk. Speleotherapy in the conditions of salt caves in Sol-Iletsk is not carried out, although in the worked-out adits of salt mines, nature and man have created unique conditions for the treatment of respiratory diseases. Salt is mined underground (chamber mining system) at a depth of about 300 m. The spent salt chambers are caves with ceilings up to 30 m high and wide, 500 m long, on the walls of which the combine leaves a pattern with a snow-white convex pattern with cutters. This is a unique deposit: the Iletsk salt is the purest sodium chloride and does not require additional purification and enrichment. At present, the construction of an underground speleological clinic and a ground-based sanatorium is underway as part of the development of the tourist and recreational cluster "Salt Lakes".

Salt Symphony, was rebuilt and since 2007 began to accept patients again.

In the Pretau karst cave in Italy It took 15 years to create an underground sanatorium. In the summer of 2003, the healing adit was open for several months, and already in 2004, more than 3,000 patients were treated in the speleo-hospital.

Soon, underground hospitals will be built in the Russian salt mines in Sol-Iletsk, and possibly “star” hotels will be built over the karst caves of the Urals, Crimea and the North Caucasus.

Indications for speleotherapy

• Bronchial asthma of mild and moderate severity without exacerbation (pulmonary insufficiency not higher than II degree).
• Pollinoses.
• Allergic rhinosinusitis without exacerbation.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• Allergic dermatitis, neurodermatitis subacute or without exacerbation.
• Vegetative dysfunctions.
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Contraindications to speleotherapy (in underground clinics):

• all diseases in acute form or in the acute stage,
• decompensated diseases of the cardiovascular system with circulatory failure,
• hypertension, with
• conditions after a heart attack, stroke,
• tuberculosis,
• cancer disease,
• pregnancy,
• bathophobia (fear of depth).

Speleotherapy in the Nomenclature of Medical Services

Service code; Name of medical service:

A20.30.018; Speleological influence

Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation of December 27, 2011 No. 1664n "On approval of the range of medical services"

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