Thermal balneotherapy

Balneotherapy, or the practice of immersing part or all of the body in thermal water, is one of the principal therapies in use.

In balneotherapy, the thermal waters exercise a curative influence, thanks to their special composition. The effects are a combination of heat stimulation and mechanical, chemo-physical and chemical actions.

This is an extremely efficacious remedy, especially in cases of vascular conditions and venous conditions in particular. In the course of balneotherapy, ozonotherapy, underwater massage, vascular gymnastics and postural drainage are combined with hygienic and dietetic regimes, thus applying the concept of fully integrated treatment of the venous condition.

From the practical point of view, the baths can be divided into three types: low-mineralization or hypotonic baths; medium-mineralization baths and high-mineralization or hypertonic baths.  These sub-divisions are based on temperature or the salt concentration of the mineral water in use.

Balneotherapy can be practiced either in individual baths or collectively, in a thermal pool. It can also involve the use of special baths which permit the application of physiotherapy and rehabilitative treatments.
Direct immersion in the sea has the added effect of massage produced by the movement of the waves, giving the benefit of general stimulation of the organism.

One particular type of balneotherapy is given the name of hay baths, an old tradition from the valleys of Trentino and Alto Adige. It finds its roots in the custom of the farmworkers of resting after a hard day’s work by going to sleep in the hay collected for the cows.
In some parts of Trentino and Alto Adige this custom has evolved from the spere of practicality to be exploited in a more rational way. It has taken on precise, important therapeutic functions: an example would be the use of the DOC grasses, which grow abundantly in the Viote basin, on Mount Bondone.