( At first glance it is difficult to bel...)Germany's Therapeutic Mud Baths Have Healing Qualities,Health

At first glance, it is difficult to believe anyone would willingly get into a mud bath. But thousands of Germans bathe in them every year to benefit their health//, and these warm baths have a long history as a natural cure.

Patients have sought out the brownish-black mud in Bad Wilsnack in Brandenburg for more than a century, originally to ease back pain or arthritis. Today, it is also available to those who simply want to relax or get away from it all.

The case is similar at the Therapy Centre and Spa Baths in Bad Kissingen, Bavaria. Irene Hoffstadt says the heat does more than reduce pain. It relaxes muscles and inner organs, greatly easing symptoms of stress.

Verena Wegner, head of physiotherapy at Bad Wilsnack's spa, treats people with chronic pain, inflamed joints or gynaecological problems. Her patients swear by the mud bath's healing properties.

"The people literally float in the mud because of its high mineral content," she says. Every day, she fills multiple, 200 litre-tubs with the brew, which has been treated to remove micro organisms and germs. The ill or stressed then climb in and sit in them for up to 30 minutes.

The peat is gathered twice a year. It is broken up, sieved, freed of contaminants and then diluted with water. Wegner says people usually take full baths, immersed up to their necks in the mud.

Karin Kraft, a professor of natural medicine at Rostock University, explains the difference between bathing in the mud and in the bathtub at home.

"You can really heat the mud up to 39 or 43 degrees Celsius - even higher." The mud retains the heat for a long time, meaning people can stay in longer than in a bubble bath. It also starts a kind of artificial fever, stirring up a person's enzymes.

"That makes the immune system better."

Kraft says the bath's power to reduce pain has been scientifically proven. She recommends mud therapy for people wit
'"/>




Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. Understanding Chronic Infections May Help in Developing Therapeutic Vaccines
2. Therapeutic cloning by regenerating stem cells from heart muscles
3. Therapeutic Genes Transferred By Viral Vector Through T Cell Masking
4. Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibody Production Is More Profitable Than Small Molecule Drugs
5. Functional Differences In Estrogen Receptor Could Be A Therapeutic Target
6. Clinical-trials Show Increased Therapeutic Activity of Pycnogenol than Daflon
7. Safety of Cancer Therapeutic Viruses Enhanced
8. Researchers Enhance Safety and Effectiveness of Therapeutic Virus that Fights Cancer
9. Human Embryonic Stem Cells Could Be Later Used In Therapeutic Cloning
10. Contemporary Therapeutic Guidelines For HIV Patients
11. Potential New Therapeutic Target for Asthma, Allergies and Cancer