This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2022) |
A mud bath is a therapeutic spa treatment that involves soaking in a bath of warm mud, often in a natural hot spring or geothermal pool. Mud baths have been used for centuries as a way to promote health and relaxation, and are still popular today in many parts of the world.
The mud used in mud baths is usually a combination of natural mineral-rich clay and water, which is heated to a comfortable temperature. The mud is then applied to the body, and the person is left to soak in the mud for a period of time, typically around 15-20 minutes.
The benefits of mud baths are allegedly numerous. The heat of the mud helps to increase blood flow and stimulate the immune system, while the minerals in the mud are believed to have a range of healing properties. Mud baths are also said to help detoxify the body, ease muscle pain and tension, and promote healthy skin.
A 2021 systematic review of studies which investigated the effect of mud baths on osteoarthritis concluded that mud bath therapy "cannot substitute for conventional therapy" but can be used in addition to it as "treatment with mud-bath therapy may relieve pain, stiffness and improve functional status in patients". [1]
In addition to the physical benefits, mud baths are also believed to have a relaxing and rejuvenating effect on the mind. Many people find that the warm, soothing sensation of the mud helps to reduce stress and promote a sense of well-being.
Mud baths can be found at spas and resorts all over the world, from California to Italy to Japan. Some of the most famous mud bath destinations include Calistoga Spa Hot Springs in California's Napa Valley, where visitors can soak in natural hot springs surrounded by picturesque vineyards, and the Dead Sea in Israel, where the high salt content of the water and mud is said to have a range of therapeutic benefits.
Mud baths come from many sources: [2]
Calistoga is a city in Napa County, California, United States. Located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the city had a population of 5,228 as of the 2020 census.
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa. Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term encompasses a broad range of approaches and therapeutic methods that take advantage of the physical properties of water, such as temperature and pressure, to stimulate blood circulation, and treat the symptoms of certain diseases.
Taiwan is part of the collision zone between the Yangtze Plate and Philippine Sea Plate. Eastern and southern Taiwan are the northern end of the Philippine Mobile Belt.
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are especially widespread in Europe and Japan. Day spas and medspas are also quite popular, and offer various personal care treatments.
Balneotherapy is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic effects. While it is considered distinct from hydrotherapy, there are some overlaps in practice and in underlying principles. Balneotherapy may involve hot or cold water, massage through moving water, relaxation, or stimulation. Many mineral waters at spas are rich in particular minerals such as silica, sulfur, selenium, and radium. Medicinal clays are also widely used, a practice known as 'fangotherapy'.
Berkeley Springs State Park is a state park situated in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, United States. The centerpiece of the Park is its historic mineral spa. These waters were celebrated for their medicinal or restorative powers and were generally taken internally for digestive disorders, or bathed in for stress relief. Native Americans visited these springs as did George Washington. Berkeley Springs is the only state-run spa in the United States and is operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
A sitz bath or hip bath is a bathtub in which a person sits in water up to the hips. It is used to relieve discomfort and pain in the lower part of the body, for example, due to hemorrhoids (piles), anal fissures, perianal fistulas, rectal surgery, an episiotomy, uterine cramps, inflammatory bowel disease, pilonidal cysts and infections of the bladder, prostate or vagina. It works by keeping the affected area clean and increasing the flow of blood to it.
Tskaltubo or Tsqaltubo is a spa resort in west-central Georgia. It is the main town of the Tsqaltubo Municipality of the Imereti province. It is known for its radon-carbonate mineral springs, whose natural temperature of 33–35 °C (91–95 °F) enables the water to be used without preliminary heating.
Mineral spas are spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in prescientific medicine.
Peloid is defined as a mature clay, mud or mud suspension or dispersion with curative or cosmetic properties, consisting of a complex mixture of fine-grained materials of geological and/or biological origin, mineral or sea water, and organic compounds commonly arising from some biological metabolic activity", used therapeutically, as part of balneotherapy, or therapeutic bathing. Peloids consist of humus and minerals formed over many years by geological and biological, chemical and physical processes.
A peat pulp bath, a form of peloid therapy, is a bath prepared of peat pulp from wetlands. Balneotherapy in form of peat pulp baths is offered in many health resorts. Its therapeutic principle is based on thermal and/or biochemical effects of peloid application on the human body.
El Totumo Mud Volcano is an active mud volcano located near sea level in northern Colombia in the municipality of Santa Catalina. A local tourist destination, popular for its alleged healing mud bath, it receives most of its visitors from nearby Cartagena. Along with this, it is the smallest volcano in the country. The mound has a prominence of about 15 m (49 ft) and it is accessible via a staircase that leads to the crater, which can accommodate about 10 to 15 people at a time; there, tourists bathe in the dense, warm mud and have the option of receiving personal massages from the attendants. The experience is then followed by a bath in a nearby lagoon to remove the mud.
Beppu Onsen (別府温泉) is an extensive hot spring system in the city of Beppu, Ōita, Japan. There are eight distinct major thermal spring zones called "Beppu Hatto"(別府八湯).
Arshan is a small resort village in the Tunkinsky District, Republic of Buryatia, Russian Federation. It is known for its mineral waters, spa, and the Khoymorski Datsan Boddhidharma Tibetan Buddhist temple. The name comes from the Buryat word for "spring."
Dead Sea products refers to cosmetic products based on materials extracted from the Dead Sea, such as salt, mud, and potash.
Calistoga Spa Hot Springs, formerly known as Calistoga Hot Sulfur Springs, is a geothermal spring system and resort located in the upper Napa Valley town of Calistoga, California. The resort has been continuously operated as a hot spring resort since the early 1900s.
The Buxton Baths using natural thermal spring water are in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. The baths date back to Roman times and were the basis for developing Buxton as a Georgian and Victorian spa town. The present buildings of the Thermal Baths and the Natural Mineral Baths were opened in the 1850s. They are positioned either side of the Buxton Crescent at the foot of The Slopes in the town's Central Conservation Area. They are both Grade II listed buildings designed by Henry Currey, architect for the 7th Duke of Devonshire.
Jordan is [home to] the mud baths of the Dead Sea.