Humanity has known for centuries the healing power of peloids (or mud). People have been using them since a time when the therapeutic effect of such treatment had not yet been substantiated. The beginning of mud therapy was laid by the ancient Egyptians. They at one time discovered that the sacred Nile River not only feeds them, but can also heal them.
In modern medicine, peloid therapy (mud treatment) is also successfully used. But now doctors have thoroughly studied this healing material and can prescribe it to patients with reason. Mud therapy for joints is one of the main areas of peloid therapy.
Peloids are colloidal formations of natural origin with a rich mineral composition.
The composition of all healing mud can be divided into three parts:
Based on the origin of mud, there are the following varieties:
Based on their deposit, peloids are divided into categories:
The composition, balanced in mineral and organic components, which is unique for each type of mud, determines the therapeutic properties of each variety.
Mud therapy is widely used in dermatology, urology, gynecology, gastroenterology, as well as in orthopedics and rheumatology.
Mud is indicated for the following diseases of the spinal column and limbs:
Mud is used in the form of applications, as well as in combination with direct (galvanic) current. Courses of such procedures lead to improved blood circulation in inflamed joints and vertebrae, to a reduction in pain and elimination of numbness.
Having diagnosed arthrosis or gout, you should consult a physiotherapist. He will prescribe mud therapy as part of the treatment package. The specialist will be able to determine the required number of procedures and their duration. It is best to carry out peloid therapy in a specialized institution. The procedure consists of applying a layer of the active substance to the painful area and securing it with a tight warming bandage.
In many sanatoriums, mud therapy is included in the health program
For arthrosis of the knee joint, mud treatment can be continued at home. For these purposes, you need to stock up on medicinal substances for future use while relaxing in a sanatorium (dispensary) or when visiting salt lakes. You can also purchase a special composition at the pharmacy and make applications for yourself at home, applying a mud mass to the damaged joint, or take baths.
The patient may feel better after the first sessions. As a rule, patients note a decrease in pain, elimination of joint stiffness, swelling, and redness. This is possible due to the fact that mud is capable of:
Mud therapy can achieve significant improvements in the fight against arthrosis.
For patients with moderate rheumatoid arthritis, the use of hill mud is indicated. This is due to the fact that it has certain advantages over other types of colloidal compounds:
For rheumatoid arthritis, therapeutic mud is mainly applied to the area of the affected joints. But if it is also applied to the lumbosacral or cervical-collar region, the therapeutic effect is enhanced. This is explained by the fact that the chemical components of the medicinal composition and the temperature factor stimulate the production of hormones of the adrenal cortex and thyroid gland. And in the case of rheumatoid arthritis, this is extremely necessary for positive dynamics.
You can arrange “mud therapy” at home
After a full course of physiotherapy using mud, the following results are noted:
The treatment method for arthritis is based on the use of mud heated to 38-40 ° C during the period of remission of the disease. And during an exacerbation, mud solutions are used no higher than room temperature. Mud therapy for arthritic joints can also be done at home, but only the appropriate type of mud should be used for treatment.
Peloid therapy itself is very effective, but has many common contraindications. Therefore, before using it, you should definitely consult your doctor.
Treatment with mud is contraindicated in the following conditions:
If the joints are damaged, you need to tune in to their long-term treatment with colloidal compounds. As a rule, courses range from 8 to 10 procedures with a mandatory break of 3 months. Many patients respond positively to this treatment technique, noting its painlessness, accessibility and effectiveness!
It’s human nature to grow old, and with age, diseases appear that you wouldn’t even think about when you were young. One of these ailments is joint disease. To a greater extent, of course, this is a disease of older people, but there are cases of the disease appearing in young people and children.
Age, the nature of the pain and accompanying symptoms all affect treatment methods. It is necessary to find out the true reason why joint pain appears, and, of course, you need to consult a doctor who will prescribe additional tests. Mud therapy for joints is one of the effective methods for the prevention and treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
Mud is formed in various bodies of water. Sulfide muds are found at the bottom of salt lakes and estuaries. Peat silt deposits form in swamps. Volcanic activity causes the formation of hydrothermal mud. Joint diseases can be treated with any of these muds. Dirt has a multifaceted effect on the human body in general, and on the musculoskeletal system in particular. There are chemical, temperature and mechanical effects, the intensity of the effects depends on the composition and consistency of the mud. Mud therapy should be used at resorts under the supervision of doctors, since recovery processes may be accompanied by side effects and contraindications. During mud treatment of joints, all biological processes at the cellular level are activated, the internal forces of the body are stimulated, which restore the normal functioning of the systems. Treatment of joints with mud is carried out in courses of 10-15 procedures and takes from 14 to 24 days, since mud therapy is usually prescribed every other day.
Treatment of joints in sanatoriums is widespread , including in Saki Crimea. Mud treatment of arthritis and arthrosis has been, perhaps, one of the most effective methods of treating joint diseases for over a century. In these cases, medications only reduce painful symptoms for a certain period of time. Treatment of joints in a sanatorium with mud promotes faster healing of bones in case of fractures and injuries, reduces pain, improves joint plasticity, reduces inflammation, and joints become strong and mobile.
The use of mud in the sanatoriums of Saki is of 2 types: mud applications, full wrap. Mud applications are often used, applying them to areas of the body that need to be cured. Saki joint treatment is a stimulation of metabolism in the human body under the influence of mud therapy. Treatment of arthrosis, arthritis, prevention of injuries and fractures using the application method has proven its effectiveness. The larger the area the dirt is applied to, the greater the effect of the procedure, but the main thing here is not to overdo it, remembering the side effects: clogging of the skin, effects on the heart muscle. Joint diseases are also treated with electro-mud applications and hydrotherapy, while beneficial substances are more effectively and deeply delivered to the patient’s body. The simultaneous combination of mud therapy and sunbathing is not recommended. In many countries, mud therapy is a mandatory procedure for joint diseases. Mud is used to treat almost all diseases of the musculoskeletal system, diseases of the spine, arthritis, arthrosis, ankylosing spondylitis, and treatment after complex fractures and injuries.
Treatment of arthritis, treatment of arthrosis and other diseases may be contraindicated, therefore, when planning to treat joints in a sanatorium, be sure to consult a doctor and undergo a full examination.
Be aware, like any medicine, mud therapy has a number of contraindications. Contraindications for the treatment of joints are any inflammatory processes, including chronic ones in the acute stage, as well as:
— pulmonary diseases of tuberculous etiology;
- a number of cardiovascular diseases,
- some diseases of the circulatory system;
- for infectious diseases of the skin and genital organs;
- with severe exhaustion accompanied by dehydration.
Places where mud treatment of joints is carried out in specialized clinics and sanatoriums are called mud baths..
In Ukraine there are several resorts where arthrosis, arthritis and other diseases of the musculoskeletal system are treated - these are the sanatoriums of Saki and Evpatoria, the resort of Slavyansk and Kuyalnik.
Mud therapy is one of the most ancient methods of treatment using natural factors. Healing mud was used for many diseases in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, and India. One of the most ancient can be considered the use of mud treatment in the Crimea, as evidenced by the records of Pliny the Elder. The healing mud of Lake Chokrak, located in the north of the Kerch Peninsula, was used to treat the wounded warriors of Alexander the Great, and the Crimean khans used Chokrak mud not only for treatment, but also to increase male strength before visiting their famous harems. Claudius Galen wrote about the “Egyptian” method of treating Nile silt mud in the 2nd century. BC. In Italy, in ancient times, they noticed the rapid healing of wounds on the legs of horses passing through mud along mineral streams. Since then, mud infused with mineral water has been called fango - Fango termale.
Therapeutic mud or peloids ( the term was proposed by the Committee of the International Society of Hydrology) are natural colloidal organomineral formations (silt, peat, hills), with high plasticity, heat capacity and slow heat transfer, containing biologically active substances (salts, gases, vitamins, enzymes, hormones and etc.) and living microorganisms. According to their origin, the defining features of their composition and medicinal properties, medicinal muds are divided into six types: peat muds, sapropels, sulfide silt muds, clayey silts, hill and hydrothermal muds.
Mud therapy or peloid therapy (from Latin pelos - silt, clay; therapia - treatment) is a method of treatment using therapeutic mud (peloids) . Other names: fangotherapy, pelotherapia, balneum limi.
Mud therapy in Russia has deep folk roots: Russian - cultivated on the coast of the White and Barents Seas, Tatar - in the Lower Volga region; Greek - on the Black Sea coast; Buryat, Tuvan, Yakut - in Eastern Siberia. Bottom sediments of predominantly salty water bodies, poor in organic matter and enriched in iron sulfides and water-soluble salts, are sometimes called “basic” or “mud itself”. It was this kind of mud that was used in Ancient Egypt, in the Greek colonies of Crimea and the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in Central Asia and Eastern Siberia, and by the Pomors of the White Sea. At the beginning of the nineteenth century. Mud therapy has become the leading spa treatment procedure. The first mud baths opened in Tinaki and Odessa (1820). Almost simultaneously, mud therapy began in Saki (1827), Staraya Russa (1839), and later - at Sergievsky Mineralnye Vody, in Lipetsk (1871) and at the Caucasian Mineralnye Vody (1886), in Anapa (1900). It was mainly carried out at southern mud stations and only in the summer months, when the mud could be heated in the sun.
Mud therapy on the Baltic coast has been known since ancient times. The miraculous Baldon mud of the Riga seaside was used to heal the wounded during the battles of the Crusaders with local tribes in the 12th century, applying it to the wounds, which healed quickly and without suppuration. In 1793, Koenigsberg professor of medicine I.D. Metzger, in one of his articles in the Prussian Archive, convinced his colleagues of the need to build a resort on the Baltic coast in Rauschen (Svetlogorsk), where there were mineral springs and healing peat mud.
Mud therapy at the Northern Resort, as the resort in Staraya Russa was then called, began to be used in the first half of the 19th century. When the life physician of the Imperial Court, Rauch, arrived here in 1828, he noticed that the local residents were bathing in some kind of mud. It turned out that they treated all their diseases in it - scrofula, aching bones, ulcers, rubella. On the instructions of Nicholas I, hospitals for soldiers were established in Staraya Russa. As the doctor of the Old Russian Hospital K.A. wrote in 1879. Schenk "Old Russian medicinal mud. are not inferior to any others not only in Russia, but also in Europe in general.” In 1854, the resort was transferred to the civil department and the highest-ranking people began to come for treatment. At the resort, located on the way from St. Petersburg to Moscow, the Travel Palace was built, where members of the royal family stayed. A recipe for mud therapy for secular beauties has been preserved: ladies' waists were tightened into a tight corset made of medicinal Old Russian mud. It was believed that dirt “eats” the fat folds on the sides.
Mud therapy in the Caucasian Mineral Waters began to develop at the end of the 19th century. “Tamerlane took medicinal baths and warmed his sore leg with magic mud,” we read in the “Book of Victory of Shafardzin and Yadzi” about Tamerlane’s campaign in 1395 in the North Caucasus. We are talking about the sulfide silt mud of Lake Tambukan , in 1773, Tambukan was described by I. Gyldenstedt under the name “Tambi”, which translated from ancient Turkic means “bad, foul smell”. In 1872 F.F. Schmidt made the first chemical analysis of the brine of Lake Tambukan, and in 1886 the mud of Lake Tambukan began to be used for treatment in the Kavminvody in the form of “chatterers,” i.e. a certain amount of dirt was diluted in a mineral bath. For mud therapy, Nikolaev baths were used in Pyatigorsk, and Ostrov baths were used in Zheleznovodsk. In 1915, the largest mud bath in Europe was erected in Essentuki. Today the Essentuki mud baths are a huge medical and preventive complex of four buildings with a mud storage facility for 4,650 tons (also built in 1915) and a hydropathic department with original shower chairs. The complex can simultaneously accommodate 186 people from 32 sanatoriums in the city.
Mud therapy in Crimea became the basis of the Russian scientific school of peloid therapy. In 1828, the world's first mud resort was officially opened in Saki using zemstvo funds, and ten years later, a branch of the Simferopol military hospital opened. During the Crimean War (1853-1856), at the suggestion of N.I. Pirogov in Saki began to practice mud treatment for those wounded in the spine and spinal cord. In 1910 S.S. Nalbandov and N.N. Burdenko organized the first “folk hospital” in Russia at the resort, where treatment was provided free of charge. Taking into account the need to treat the consequences of combat trauma to the nervous system, a neurological department was organized in Saki in 1915. Professor-resortologist S.S. Nalbandov and academician N.N. Burdenko, the founder of neurosurgery in Russia, developed the scientific basis of mud therapy. In the Saki sanatorium named after. N.N. Burdenko developed unique methods of mud treatment for patients with traumatic disease of the spinal cord. The first sanatorium for patients with limited mobility was opened in 1947 at the Sergievskie Mineralnye Vody resort, and the following year a specialized spinal department was opened at the Saki resort.
Therapeutic muds (peloids) are natural colloidal organomineral formations (silt, peat, hills and others) that have a therapeutic effect on the human body due to their plasticity, high heat capacity and slow heat transfer, the content of biologically active substances (salts, gases, vitamins, enzymes, hormones) and others) and living microorganisms.
Peat mud , which is a type of swamp sediment that differs from others in a high degree of decomposition (more than 40%), is common on the plains of the forest zone and, to a lesser extent, in the mountainous regions of this zone. The medicinal significance of peat is due to its high thermal properties and a large amount of organic substances, including those recognized as therapeutically active - humic acids, lipids, bitumen. Peat mud stimulates enzymatic activity, accelerates regeneration processes and has an anti-inflammatory effect. Superacidic peats (Sapozhkovsky, Ryazan; Frantiskovy Lazne, Czech Republic) are characterized by high bactericidal properties. The traditional region for the use of peat mud in Russia is the center of the European part. Peat mud is used in Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Belarus, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. In Russia, treatment with peat baths and poultices was introduced in 1871 in Lipetsk. Newspapers of that time compared the Lipetsk resort with the Austrian resort of Franzensbad (now Czech Republic, Frantiskovy Lazne) and quoted the words of Professor S.P. Botkin: “Dirt is the future of Lipetsk.”
Sapropel mud (Greek sapros - rotten, pelos - silt, clay, Greek) are organogenic bottom sediments of predominantly fresh water bodies. The medicinal significance is determined by the high thermal properties, the presence of a large amount of organic substances, as well as biostimulants - vitamins, enzymes, hormones. Sapropel mud is used in Russia in the resorts of the Urals and Trans-Urals, and abroad - in Belarus, Germany, Poland, and Estonia. Mud of sapropel origin from the Sestroretsk deposit (Kurortny district of St. Petersburg) has rare physical and chemical properties. These are burial sapropels of the ancient Littorina Sea, called “Gytti clays”.
Sulfide silt mud is bottom sediments of predominantly salty water bodies, poor in organic matter and enriched in iron sulfides and water-soluble salts. This type of mud is sometimes called "basic" or "proper" mud. In terms of their thermal properties, they are significantly inferior to peat and sapropel mud, but in terms of the content of iron sulfides and water-soluble salts they are significantly superior to them. A very important feature of sludge mud is its content of various gases (hydrogen sulfide - up to 200 mg/1000 g of therapeutic mud, methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia) and organic substances, which have a pronounced therapeutic effect. Among the organic substances that have important antimicrobial properties, various acids, pigments, and penicillin-like substances should be highlighted. They are produced by various bacteria, molds and antagonistic actinomycetes.
Depending on the deposit, sulfide silt muds are divided into three categories:
Sopochnye muds are clayey secretions of mud volcanoes, differ from other groups of muds by specific organic matter (petroleum origin) and the presence of recognized therapeutically active components - iodine and bromine. Hill mud is used in limited quantities (as an additional healing factor) in Anapa (Azovskaya Hill). The main deposits of hill mud are concentrated in Azerbaijan, with smaller deposits in Georgia.
Hydrothermal muds arise in areas of increased volcanic activity as a result of the leaching and decomposition of volcanic rocks by high-temperature gas-steam jets containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. They are characterized by high temperature (up to 95 °C), acidic reaction and relatively low mineralization.
Fango (Italian: Fango ) are clays of volcanic origin mixed with the waters of thermal springs. create a favorable environment for the life of bacteria, under the influence of which the process of fango maturation occurs. Thermal mud - Fango termale - is a unique healing factor in the resorts of Italy; the most famous are the therapeutic muds of the resorts of Abano, Montegrotto and Battaglia, which are a mixture of natural clay, which contains igneous rocks, thermal water, algae and microorganisms. Each thermal hotel has at its disposal special tanks in which the mud maturation process takes place. For 2-3 months, thermal water constantly flows through the mud at a temperature of 60 °C. The chemical components of Euganean thermal water contribute to the development of special microflora, changing the chemical and physical structure of the mud. In the process of maturation, mud becomes a unique pharmacological product that can have a pronounced therapeutic effect on the human body: anti-inflammatory and healing, analgesic and analgesic, relaxing and restoring vitality, detoxification and restoring mineral balance.
There are three main components in the composition of therapeutic mud:
As a result of the activity of microbes in the dirt, a so-called “volatile complex” is formed - hydrogen sulfide, volatile amine bases, ammonia derivatives, which has the greatest ability to penetrate intact skin. Organic acids contained in therapeutic mud (formic, acetic, humic) are irritating to the skin. Biologically active substances such as female sex hormones (folliculin, sinestrol), antibiotics, biogenic stimulants, and microelements were also found in the therapeutic mud.
The organic matter of medicinal mud determines their most important medicinal properties - high heat capacity, low thermal conductivity, high adsorption capacity.
The physiological effect of therapeutic mud is based on the complex influence of temperature, mechanical and chemical factors on the body.
Temperature factor of the action of therapeutic mud . The physical basis for the mechanism of therapeutic effects of peloids is that mud, having a high heat capacity, low thermal conductivity, and low convection ability, ensures long-term retention of heat, gradual release of heat to the body and deep penetration into tissues. A similar effect is produced, for example, by clay or a regular heating pad heated to the same temperature. The same can be said about the pressure on the underlying organs that a heavy mud application exerts.
Mechanical theory in the 1920s. was supplemented by the idea that a difference in electrical potential arises as a result of friction between the skin and dirt, which can have some beneficial effect. Mud applications, due to the mechanical factor, affect the receptor apparatus of the skin and mucous membranes, reflexively influence the neuro-endocrine, neuro-vascular mechanisms, which leads to functional, microcirculatory and metabolic changes in tissues, organs and organ systems, and manifests itself, first of all, trophic effect.
The chemical theory of the mechanism of action of medicinal mud connects the therapeutic effect with its chemical composition. The founder of the Saki resort S.N. Auger, sent to Saki for medical supervision of mud therapy, back in 1826 expressed the hypothesis that “something penetrates the body from the mud.” This assumption formed the basis of the chemical theory of mud therapy, confirmed in the middle of the 20th century. research by Soviet and foreign scientists. In this case, thermal, mechanical, electrical, and radioactive factors play a supporting role, since they facilitate the penetration of chemical components inside through immobile skin.
Mud therapy is considered not only as a factor of local impact on the pathological focus, but also as an effective method of changing the reactivity of the entire organism, affecting systemic, regulatory processes and activating sanogenetic (Latin sanitas - health, Greek genesis - origin) mechanisms.
It is believed that when mud is applied to the skin, the body's reaction goes through two phases: neuro-reflex and neuro-chemical. The first, neuro-reflex phase is characterized by direct irritation of the nerve receptors of the skin, which leads to excitation of the corresponding centers of the nervous system, and as a final result - to a restructuring of metabolism in the body. The second, neurochemical, phase is characterized by the formation in the skin (under the influence of compounds penetrated from dirt) of biochemically active substances, which, entering the blood, cause a cascade of sanogenetic reactions.
Clinical and experimental work has proven that lipid complexes and other biologically active substances in the composition of therapeutic mud have increased penetrating ability, even through intact skin, and trigger cellular reactions such as aseptic inflammation. Possessing, among other things, antioxidant properties, peloids have a combined analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, and take part in the processes of microcirculation regulation.
Therapeutic mud enhances peripheral blood circulation, promotes more intense movement of red blood cells, the transfer and release of oxygen, and improves tissue oxygenation and metabolism. Under the influence of mud procedures, coronary circulation improves, myocardial contractility and peripheral resistance change. During the procedure, pulse and breathing increase, blood pressure increases, which then decreases, sweating increases, and urinary function increases. The autonomic nervous system plays a significant role in the development and course of these changes.
Neuro-reflex processes developing under the influence of mud therapy lead to increased sweating, during which a significant part of chlorides is released from the body, and the elimination of toxic and intermediate metabolic products from cells is enhanced (Latin elimino - I take it beyond the threshold, I remove it). Significant changes under the influence of mud therapy develop in the main digestive glands: the acidity of gastric juice and the content of hydrochloric acid decrease.
Therapeutic muds - silt sulfide, peat - have a pronounced antimicrobial effect, which is explained by the high content of sulfide groups, bromine ions, zinc and antibiotic analogues. The healing mud of the Sestroretsk deposit has fungicidal (antifungal) properties. These therapeutic muds belong to the group of sulfur-iron sapropels, or gytti clays.
One of the important criteria for the biologically active properties of medicinal mud is the presence of a balneological reaction in the majority of patients. From the standpoint of balneological practice, the exacerbation of the inflammatory process during the period of balneoreaction is considered as a phase preceding the onset of the recovery reaction. According to experimental and clinical studies of the Scientific Center for Clinical and Experimental Medicine of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, as a result of a course of treatment, immunological parameters stabilize, which indicates the immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effect of mud therapy. The development and substantiation of the most informative indicators of balneoreaction, which can be used in drawing up an individual treatment program for a particular patient, is an important task of spa medicine.
The Egyptian method of mud therapy in the 19th century was used in the southern resorts, where mud therapy was initially carried out seasonally, only in the hottest summer time on the shores of lakes Saki, Moinaki, Anapa, Evpatoria, and Odessa estuaries. Mud heated in the sun was smeared on various parts of the body, most often the entire body. After this, the patient lay in the sun, and when the mud dried up, he entered the lake or estuary, washed it and continued to remain in the warm brine for some time. Then he dried in the sun and got dressed - the “Egyptian” technique. It is sometimes used, and nowadays, on their own initiative, by some patients who come to the southern mud resorts for treatment in the summer.
The Egyptian mud therapy technique, placing excessive strain on the cardiovascular system, negatively affected the health of many patients. Treatment often led to an exacerbation of the disease, and in some patients, to an extremely unfavorable outcome. The “Egyptian” technique was replaced by the “medallion” technique, and even later – by water baths and mud applications.
Mud therapy in the form of mud baths was first used in Russia in 1839 at the Staraya Russa resort, and often the diseased parts were also rubbed with mud, after which the mud was washed off in a bath with mineral water of the same temperature. Currently, there has been renewed interest in conducting mud baths in fresh, mineral or sea water. Seawater mud baths are being actively introduced into practice in the sanatoriums of the seaside resorts of Anapa and Gelendzhik. Sea water is the native environment of silt sulfide mud, so these baths have a harmonious effect on the patient, are easily tolerated and are highly effective.
The application method was introduced in the Caucasian Mineral Waters, therefore for a long time it was called the Caucasian method. Currently, the application method, in which therapeutic mud is applied to the diseased part of the body, is the main method of mud therapy. Mud applications can be general or local. General applications are now rarely used; they can be indicated for very common processes. In this case, the mud is applied to the entire body with the exception of the head and heart area in a layer 2-3 cm thick. Local applications are applied to a certain part of the body: the area of the hands - “gloves”; feet and legs - “sock”, “boot”; pelvis and upper thighs - “panties”; pelvis and legs - “trousers”; pelvis and one leg - “half-pants”; chest and arms - “jacket”; half of the chest and arm - “half-jacket”; on the abdominal area or projections of its individual organs - stomach, liver, intestines; cervical-collar region.
In addition to traditional application methods of mud therapy, which are mistakenly classified as thermal procedures, other methods of mud therapy are now widely used.
The method of simultaneous exposure of the body to therapeutic mud and electric current was proposed by A.A. Lozinsky during his work in Kemeri in 1913, he subsequently introduced it at the resorts of the Caucasian Mineral Waters. These methods include galvanic mud therapy, electrophoresis of mud solution, mud therapy in combination with inductothermy, etc. These procedures have a complex effect on the body due to the effect of therapeutic mud and electric current on skin receptors, as well as the entry into the patient’s body of therapeutically active chemicals contained in mud.
Vaginal and rectal tampons with therapeutic mud are used for gynecological diseases and a number of chronic inflammatory processes in men, as well as for diseases of the rectum. Mud therapy has a pronounced anti-inflammatory, desensitizing and absorbable effect, increases local immunity, has a pronounced analgesic and neurotrophic effect, and improves blood circulation in the pelvic organs.
New methods of using therapeutic mud have made it possible to expand the indications for mud therapy, to move from treating only chronic, advanced forms of diseases to treating subacute, sometimes even just ended acute inflammations. The introduction of new mud therapy techniques has made it possible to more widely use therapeutic mud for certain forms of concomitant cardiovascular and other diseases for which heat treatment is absolutely contraindicated.
Cold mud applications, with a mud temperature of 18 - 20 ° C and 23 - 25 ° C , are used in the presence of exudative and exudative-proliferative changes in the affected joints. Insignificant thermal load, compared to traditional mud therapy methods, allows expanding the indications for peloid therapy in the presence of concomitant diseases.
Cryopelotherapy is another modern method of mud therapy , developed by Anapa balneologists. Use alternately a mud cryopack at a temperature of 15 - 20 °C, exposure 10 - 15 minutes, then change to a cryopackage at a lower temperature (7 - 10 °C) for 20 - 30 minutes. When the acute inflammatory process subsides (usually three procedures are enough), the patient is prescribed a thin-layer mud application.
The method of thin-layer thermal-contrast mud application with pre-heating of the skin with flannel hot compresses followed by mud application of mud at room temperature further enhances the effect of the mineral composition of the mud. According to P.P. Slynko and G.A. Klimenko (1996), thermal contrast effects not only activate metabolic-reduction processes, but also contribute to the emergence of persistence phenomena within a few minutes. The sweat and sebaceous glands work not for secretion, but for absorption, providing the effect of treatment due to the rich mineral and biological spectrum of therapeutic mud.
Mud therapy techniques affecting reflexogenic zones for gastroenterological patients were developed by scientists from the Ural Center for Regenerative Medicine and Balneology. In chronic pancreatitis, when mud therapy using the traditional method for the epigastric region is contraindicated, mud applications are applied to the cervical-collar area, as well as to the distal parts of the upper and lower extremities in the form of long gloves and high socks, and segmentally to the spine area. The peculiarities of the methods of influencing the course of chronic pancreatitis from reflexogenic zones include the absence of an irritating effect of the procedures on the excretory apparatus of the pancreas and a not pronounced increase in regional blood circulation, which significantly helps to reduce the activity of the inflammatory process and has an anti-edematous and resolving effect.
“Cold” mud applications at a temperature of 36 °C, alternating with low-frequency electric current (NET-phoresis), mineral water and ultrasound therapy. for a number of years they have been used in the pediatric department of the clinic of the State Research Institute of Balneology (Pyatigorsk) for the treatment of chronic pancreatitis in children. The pronounced effect of therapy is due to the fact that NET and ultrasound have an analgesic, anti-inflammatory effect, improve microcirculation of the pancreas, and cold mud has an inhibitory effect on exudative phenomena in the pancreas.
Mud dental applications are used in clinical practice for the treatment of periodontal diseases. This makes it possible to improve tissue and cellular trophism, which leads to resolution of the inflammatory process in patients and a reduction in treatment time. For mud therapy, silt and hill muds are used, which have an alkaline reaction similar to the pH of the oral cavity. Sopochnaya mud, coming from the deep depths of a mud volcano, is practically sterile; in addition, it has a more concentrated mineral composition with a higher iodine content.
Mankind has been using mud treatment with peloids (mud) for many centuries ago. Even without a scientific evidence base, people knew that this method relieves joint pain. The Egyptians were the first to discover the therapeutic effect of mud. After the Nile flooded, the soil around the river turned into marshy mud. Since the main Egyptian waterway was the breadwinner of its banks, people came to it at any time of the year for water. So they noticed that the joints, if they were coated with mud, stopped hurting.
Since then, mud therapy has gained popularity throughout the world, and is still successfully used as a physiotherapeutic treatment. But the basis for the use of mud is not assumptions, but scientific medical arguments. Science claims that peloid therapy is an effective treatment method. And it is mainly used to combat ailments affecting the joints.
Peloids include natural colloidal formations rich in minerals that are healing for the human body.
All peloids have three main components, based on the analysis of which they are classified into types and categories.
Depending on the place of origin, peloids are divided into the following types:
Based on the definition of the deposit, all mud is classified into categories:
The uniqueness of each type of mud is its mineral composition. Depending on the place of origin and category of mud, it will be balanced in mineral and organic composition. Depending on what peloids are “rich” with, the therapeutic effect of their use is determined.
From ancient sources, humanity knows two main methods by which people were treated with mud for all diseases.
These are the methods: Egyptian and Tatar. Saka healers who lived back in the 8th century treated a person by placing him in a pit of mud. Only the head remained on the surface; the whole body was covered with dirt. In those days, literally everyone was treated with peloids. This procedure was considered healing and rejuvenating.
Today, doctors use a scientific approach to peloid therapy; therefore, almost all types of mud are used primarily for the treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Since treatment is mainly aimed at joints, peloid therapy and mud wraps are used for the following diseases:
Mud also helps with diseases of the genitourinary system, metabolic disorders, inflammatory processes on the skin and other skin ailments. Patients recover faster after severe fractures, burns, and frostbite.
Why does mud help, and what is its effect? – patients are always interested.
Minerals and organic components of mud, being in an ideal state of mixture, like an emulsion, penetrate deep into the skin upon contact with the skin. The source of inflammation receives additional nutrition, blood flows to the sore spot, resulting in healing.
During the procedure, additional stimulation is provided: a light relaxing massage, tonic and warming effect. In the laboratory, improvements in blood parameters can be observed (a noticeable deep cleansing occurs).
At the time of the procedure, metabolic processes are launched in the cells of the body, resulting in a metabolic shift. The rapid release of waste products and improved cell nutrition help diseased organs to heal.
In order to accelerate cellular metabolism in tissues, mud with a sulfide-silt composition, fango or peat is used. The course of treatment is 10-15 sessions, depending on the severity of the disease. Basically, in order to improve metabolic processes in cells to heal joints, mud applications are applied directly to the area of diseased joints.
The patient does not begin to notice improvements immediately, but, as a rule, after a few weeks. But the therapeutic effect lasts for several months. It is advisable to carry out a course of mud treatment at least 2 times a year. Then the therapy will not only help temporarily relieve symptoms and alleviate the course of the disease, but will also help restore damaged joints (except for those in which the pathological process is considered irreversible).
Course mud procedures actively restore the cartilage system by relieving inflammation and additionally replenishing the joint with minerals and other natural active components. Inflammation around the joint decreases, which is noticeable even externally. As a result, after several courses, the necessary medical effect is achieved - pain goes away, joint mobility improves, relapses of the disease occur less frequently, and chronic inflammation is relieved.
After a course of mud therapy, connective bone tissue actively begins to grow in patients with cracks and fractures of bones. In patients with scoliosis, visible skeletal asymmetry decreases and muscle strength increases.
Doctors do not recommend using mud therapy without medical supervision. The fact is that such therapy is very effective, but its main problem is that with the wrong approach (wrong choice of mud composition, incorrect temperature conditions, duration of the session, etc.) a relapse of the disease may begin.
During the procedure, the patient is placed on the couch in a horizontal position. The patient should relax as much as possible. After the procedure, it is necessary to wash off the mud residues in the shower, after which it is advisable to lie down or sit quietly for half an hour.
If, before starting the procedure, you peel the skin on the part of the body where applications are planned, the effect of the treatment will be more pronounced.
Mud therapy is one of the most effective therapeutic methods recognized by medicine. Peloids are a completely natural product that can be easily used at home. It is important to consult with a physiotherapist which mud is best to use for the procedure.
When treating with mud, you need to be careful. There are contraindications
Those who decide to be treated with mud at home need to know that this type of therapy has its contraindications. These include:
The main thing that a patient should do is listen to the doctor’s recommendations. The doctor himself knows what the patient’s medical history is and whether he can undergo peloid therapy. The attending physician will also be able to advise what kind of mud to use.
For mud treatment at home, it is best to buy peloids from a registered pharmacy to avoid counterfeit products.
Patients who have completed one course of peloid therapy note the following positive changes in their well-being.
25% claim that mud treatment improved their well-being, the pain went away, and their health improved. 45% of patients note that they experienced positive dynamics in treatment. 20% believe that their positive result is not very noticeable. And only 10% claim that they did not feel any therapeutic effect.
But you need to understand that each person is individual, so the same method of treatment helps us differently. In any case, no one noted any negative dynamics or health problems. And mud therapy has earned its calling through centuries of authority.
Come to us! We will be happy to help you restore your health and strengthen your immune system! At the Sakropol sanatorium, therapeutic and preventive procedures are carried out using Saki mud. Our doctors have developed a health program, thanks to which mud applications have become useful even for those for whom they were previously contraindicated. Patients of different ages with different diseases are accepted for treatment.
Saki mud: nature of origin
The Sakropol sanatorium is located on the shore of the Saki salt lake, the healing properties of which are the subject of legends. It is distinguished by a unique composition of water, which has been formed over thousands of years as a result of biological and chemical processes. The lake itself was formed during the Ice Age, when the sea flooded the lowlands. With the change in the terrain, salt water began to accumulate in the pit, but due to the insufficient number of underground sources, it evaporated. This increased the concentration of salts, which partially crystallized and settled to the bottom.
Studying Lake Saki, scientists discovered that its bottom layers look like a “layer cake”, where the layers are clay of different ages. They differ from each other in color, concentration of salts and silt deposits. The latter protect the salt layers from destruction. This maintains the right environment for the formation of sulfide Saki mud. Thanks to the complex of biologically active substances, microelements and microorganisms that inhabit every gram of natural material, it has no analogues and remains a safe alternative to drugs.
Composition of Saki mud
Saki mud is difficult to confuse with anything else. It is a black, viscous mass with the smell of hydrogen sulfide. The process of its formation lasts for years at the bottom of the lake without access to oxygen. It cannot be seen, but it can really be appreciated. As a result of transformations, a natural material is born, studies of which show the presence of:
The rich composition allows the therapeutic mud of Lake Saki to be used in physiotherapy for health procedures, mud therapy for the treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, and autoimmune diseases.
The results of studies of different types of mud showed that the material from Lake Saki contains 3 to 10 times more biologically active compounds than similar material from the Dead Sea.
The black gold of Crimea, which is what Saki mud was called, was originally used to treat joints. At the beginning of the twentieth century. The first health resorts accepted for rehabilitation soldiers who received musculoskeletal injuries during the war. They were given mud applications, thanks to which the bones grew together and the functionality of the peripheral nervous system was restored.
Since then, the scope of mud therapy has expanded. Now Saki mud is used in cosmetology (for strengthening hair, skin care, weight correction during body wraps), complex therapy of chronic diseases, and as part of general strengthening courses.
The Sakropol sanatorium provides treatment with Saki mud, which is based on thin-layer mud therapy.
Thanks to them you can get rid of diseases:
Therapy is based on individual selection of procedures (the doctor calculates the exposure time for each patient in such a way as to achieve sustainable results without harm to the body).
Main types of exposure to dirt
The healing properties of Saki mud are confirmed by reviews from our patients. After the first procedure, they feel lightness, a surge of strength, and after the course - an increase in tone. If mud applications are used in combination with drug therapy, its effectiveness also increases.
Methods of using Saki mud
The Sakropol sanatorium uses a one-time certified mud therapy technique. Dirt is not regenerated. Mud applications can be applied to the entire body or to problem areas, to those adjacent to problem areas, according to the principle of symmetry: on the mirror image of the problem area on the opposite side. The choice of application site depends on the type and nature of the disease and the patient’s condition.
The intracavitary technique is also popular, using Saki mud in tubes for vaginal and rectal tampons, which are used for the sanitation and treatment of the genitourinary system.
Raw materials for mud applications are extracted from the bottom of Lake Saki using high-tech equipment.
For a speedy recovery and rehabilitation, our doctors combine different treatment and diagnostic methods.
Come to the sanatorium-resort complex “Sakropol” and you will discover the healing power of black Crimean gold, because nature’s medicines are available to everyone!