ERKAN SARSK AHMET KARA PHYSICAL THERAPY & REHABILITATION III.CLASS V.

COURSE

Speleotherapy

Speleotherapy uses the certain conditions of caves and mines to cure several diseases, especially respiratory diseases. The cave air is very low on dust, which could cause allergic reactions or asthmatic attacks. This reduces any kind of irritation, the symptoms of the diseases are reduced or eliminated completely, while the patient is in the cave. But that does not explain how it should have a longer lasting effect.

The atmosphere has a very low ratio of carbon dioxide (0.03%), the ratio in cave air is five to ten times higher, but still very low. But the relatively high amount influences the autonomic nervous system and induces a deeper and more intensive breathing, which helps with the cure of any kind of asthma by training the breathing. The therapy in the cave works completely without any sort of medical treatment. Especially pregnant women with asthma can use the therapy without any harm to the child. Speleotherapy is a holistic or alternative medicical treatment. The effectiveness of speleotherapy is not acknowledged in all countries of the world. East European countries use it for many decades now, the therapy is paid by the public health care system.

Some countries do not see any medical use in this therapy, because of the lack of serious scientific research, these include the UK and the USA. In such countries the therapy is sometimes advertised as wellness ordisease symptom management. In middle European coutries, especially Germany, the speleotherapy had a sort of gold rush in the last decade. However, the Cochrane report cited below, could not find any significant outcomes in a reliable manner, despite a beneficial short-term effect on lung function. In Germany the therapy is not approved by the health insurance, so controlled clinical trials were initiated to test its effectiveness. A study made during the year 2002 in three German speleotherapy sites prooved the medical use of the therapy.

Other subterranean therapies use radon, salt, or other natural resources. They are definitely related and use the aspects of speleotherapy, but they are not really speleotherapy. However, the respective locations are added to the list below for convenience. The speleotherapy in Eastern Europe and Russia is often made in salt mines. A healing factor by this salt is assumed, but as far as I know, it is not yet proved. However, salt is used in many subaerial therapies, so why should it be useless underground? This kind of therapy has its own name, it is called Halotherapy.

Here are some of the many benefits you could discover after Halotherapy treatments: - Breathe easier after just 7 - 15 sessions of the treatment; - Alleviate sneezing, coughing, and shortness of breath; - Decrease your dosage of large amounts of prescription medications, or even Stop taking medications altogether; - Feel revitalized; - Improve general health.

Halotherapy

Halotherapy, also called salt therapy ["halos" in Greek means salt], is a drug-free and completely natural therapy with no side effects. It takes place in a controlled air environment that simulates the special microclimate of actual salt caves and salt mines. Halotherapy stems from the even older "Speleotherapy" ["speleo" means cave] that historically utilized salt mines as the venue for the therapy. Salt mines and their therapeutic properties have been noted since Hippocrates. According to the old facts, the medieval monks took the sick to the salt caves and let them breathe in the salt particles, which were created while the monks were crushing the stalactites. Speleotherapy is very popular in the former Soviet Union and numerous Eastern European countries, were the treatments have been practiced in old salt mines since the early 19th century.

It is not only the purity of the air in the salt caves that have such healing effects, but also its resonant vibration, that activate our self-healing and selfregulating powers. When our body is sick and lacking its natural frequency, salt can bring us back into our original, balanced state. Deep in the heart of the Earth, surrounded by millions of tons of salt, patients can encounter the influence of the enormous power of the salt's balancing frequency, thereby replenishing the body with its energy deficit.

Since the natural salt caves and salt mines are not conveniently located for most people, Halotherapy - recreating the conditions of the salt caves - started to spread. Halotherapy belongs to the category of the physical therapies / no-drug and noninvasive treatments of diseases. Throughout the therapy, salt aerosol is constantly scattered into the air for the visitors to breathe in. The salt aerosol consists of tiny and dry salt particles, in sizes between 1-5 mkm, which are ground in a special salt generator. These aerosolized microparticles can penetrate into every corner of the bronchi and deposit upon the surface, destroying bacteria and fungi. The anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and antiinflammatory properties of salt provide the major beneficial factor in Halotherapy

More than 40 years of research, conducted around the world, shows that treatment with Halotherapy has beneficial effects for patients with: Asthma Chronic Bronchitis Sinusitis COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Cystic Fibrosis Allergic Rhinopathy or Hay Fever Ear Infections Various acute or chronic respiratory diseases Smokers cough Viral infections Coughs and colds Chronic ear-nose-throat illnesses Salt is also extremely beneficial to your skin in treating: Acne Psoriasis Neurodermatitis Eczema

In addition, salt naturally produces negative ions, which produce the clarity effect that people love from Halotherapy treatments. Negative ions have been shown to reduce: Stress Headaches Lethargy Depression And negative ions can dramatically increase your: Energy Mental alertness Overall sense of well-being