Interview with Dr. Balčius about treatment in Druskininkai

Treatment at Druskininkai resort, in particular at the spa hotel Egle, is based on the use of unique natural healing factors - mineral waters and peat mud. They are harmoniously combined with modern technologies, creating highly effective base for treatment and prevention of many diseases, strengthening of organism and recovery of ability to work.

Today the medical director and chief physician of spa hotel Egle Arvydas Balčius will tell in detail about medical and health-improving procedures, which are used in the spa hotel. Arvydas Balčius is a doctor of physical and rehabilitation medicine, he has been working in spa hotels since 1997, he has been practicing at the resort since 1995.

Water from wells "Egle-1" and "Egle-2" has a high mineralization, about 35 g/l. How do you technically ensure that the water becomes suitable for drinking treatment, how do you reduce its mineralization?

There are two wells more than 300 meters deep in the spa hotel, with different chloride-sodium-calcium mineral waters, but, in fact, there is little difference in their composition. We dilute water from the wells with the initial mineralization of 40-45 g/l, and as a result we obtain suitable mineralization: "Egle-1" has about 5-6 g/l, and "Egle-2" - up to 9 g/l.  We do not dilute the water from the wells in any containers, and we do not keep it diluted. Fresh and mineral water is mixed directly in the well-room, and then it is immediately served to the visitors. You can also dilute it on your own. Such use of mineral water is much more effective, because the water does not stand still, does not lose its beneficial properties, and is drunk fresh, directly from the ground, without losing beneficial trace elements.

Our guests can drink healing water in the well-room on the territory of the spa hotel, which not so long ago we completely modernized, repaired and renovated the premises. Now here are five kinds of water - warm and cold clear water, warm and cold mineral water "Egle-1" and "Egle-2" of different mineralization, and brine water. We get the brine directly from the well, without diluting it. This brine can be used to gargle the throat, and women are very fond of washing their faces with this water for youthful skin. Also, the patient can drink this water, diluting to the desired concentration of fresh water. It is simple - the patient himself dilutes a special clean fresh water brine from the well. If the water after dilution seems too salty, it can be diluted again to a more comfortable concentration, but still better to listen to the doctor's recommendations and dilute to the concentration he prescribes. What water to drink is not determined by the patient, but by the doctor, who prescribes a certain water of the required temperature, depending on the diagnosis and indications. 

Are the waters in Egle the same in composition as in the other spa houses?

The water of Druskininkai resort has a high content of magnesium ions, this is its distinctive feature. Magnesium is responsible for many processes in the body, for the condition of muscles, for good health in general, for the balance of the nervous system, for the proper functioning of the heart. As we know, potassium is responsible for the heart in the first place, and then magnesium. That's why our water with high magnesium content is useful for heart diseases.

Are there any restrictions on drinking magnesium-rich water for patients with heart problems?

It is difficult to predict complications from taking water. That's why we always prescribe water for therapeutic drinking, starting with a quarter of a glass at a time. The patient begins to drink three times a day for a quarter of a glass and observe his well-being. If such a patient got up in the morning and saw bags under his eyes, it means that he overdid it. Or if there was a reaction in the form of diarrhea - then he also drank a lot of mineral water for the day. If a patient with heart disease does not have a negative reaction to the water, then the dosage is gradually increased. 

What kind of mud is used for mud baths in the spa hotel Egle?

Spa hotel Egle has its own peat bog in Jovaišiai quarry, from which we bring fresh peat every day. This peat is specially enriched with mineral water for the procedures. There is a room where the peat is diluted with mineral water, mixed to the right consistency and fed through special pipes to the procedures in hot form. Peat is mixed with cold mineral water, and then the finished product of the right consistency is heated to the desired temperature for the procedure. Duration of the mud bath - up to 20 minutes. 

We do not use the mud for the procedure again. After each treatment, the used mud is vacuumed out of the bath and taken away to the fields for fertilization. Based on peat mud enriched with mineral water we perform mud baths and wraps, applications and compresses, gynecological and rectal mud swabs as well as using "electric mud" for the procedure.

How does the mud affect the patient's body during the bath?

If the most important thing about mineral water is its chemical composition, which affects the patient's body. For the mud, there are four directions of action: mechanical, thermal, chemical and bacteriological. Of these four, the most important is the thermal factor of exposure. Because the mud accumulates a lot of heat in itself, and as the mud is thicker, the more heat it accumulates, and the slower it gives off this heat. Baths with peat mud are carried out at a temperature of peat from 36 °C to 40 °C. 

What are the rules for mud baths?

After the procedure, the patient gets up, goes to the shower, in the shower one should try to wash minimally, only so that no obvious traces of mud are left, without soap or any detergents. After that the person needs to rest for about 20 minutes, for this you can go to a special rest room, in a cafe, in your room or just rest in the waiting room. Such rest is very important to complete the action of the mud on the body.

For which pathologies do you prescribe procedures with therapeutic mud, and for which such treatment, on the contrary, is contraindicated?

We prescribe mud procedures for diseases of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system. Contraindications we determine in each case, look at how the person tolerates thermal procedures, whether there are diseases in which they are not recommended. These are first of all illnesses of cardiovascular system, also oncological processes, different inflammatory processes in organism.  But again - everything is individual. For example, mud procedures are very effective for diabetics, but if a person has decompensation processes, in that case we do not prescribe thermal procedures. 

Tell us about the procedure "vertical bath". Who is indicated for it and how it is carried out in your spa hotel?

Our vertical bath differs from similar ones in other spa houses in that we do it not in some small container, but in a full-fledged swimming pool. Our pool is equipped with everything you need and is perfect for the procedure - there are both deep and shallow spots, there is a special device on which you can do exercises lying down. The water is warm and of a comfortable temperature, which promotes relaxation of all muscles. When immersed in the warm water of the pool, the laws of physics come into play, and from the weight of the body remains 1/10th of it, so a person as if it becomes lighter. If he has joint pain, this effect allows him to perform a variety of movements with greater amplitude. Warm mineral water relaxes muscles and relieves spasms, and the water itself has great resistance, which helps to train the muscles. During the exercises, the load on the musculoskeletal system increases gradually, the instructors systematically increase it so that the impact is soft, painless, but effective. First exercises are performed at the wall in the pool, then on special beds, and then in circles. Moral attitude is also important - when exercising, it is important that the person understands what he does, what his body is capable of. It is important to do the exercises slowly, smoothly, memorizing them, so that then he can observe the progress, as with each session the movement process improves, the connections in the body are restored.

Since the temperature of the water in the swimming pool is 34 °C, it is quite a serious strain on the body, so the procedure takes no more than 30 minutes. The water in the pool is from a well, mineral, but diluted to mineralization of 5-6 g/l. During the procedure both heat and trace elements from the mineral water act on the human body.

What are the contraindications to this procedure?

The most important contraindication is if the patient cannot swim and is afraid of water. The depth in the middle of the pool is about two meters and if a person cannot swim, he will be afraid of the pool, he will be tense, and what can be the benefit of the procedure if you are tense. Muscles are not relaxed, and the moral attitude will not allow to have a positive effect. General balneotherapy contraindications are the same as for any other procedure - oncology, inflammatory processes in the body, acute exacerbation of chronic diseases, etc. In any case this procedure is prescribed by a doctor after consultation.

Another of the main procedures of the resort is a mineral bath. Tell us more about this procedure.

Our spa hotel prescribes many different procedures, the most important are mud and baths. They are appointed every other day - one day mud procedures, the next day - balneological. All baths in the spa hotel are made on the basis of mineral water, which is supplied directly from the well into the bath. Water can be different mineralization, depending on the doctor's prescription. Water is served cold, because it comes directly from the ground, but here we warm it up to the temperature prescribed by the doctor and dilute it with fresh water, because if it is not diluted to 20 g/l and leave the brine, patients may have problems with the heart. But each patient will be treated individually, so the baths are prescribed and the required concentration and frequency, depending on the diagnosis and the presence of related diseases. There are baths, which are based on just pure mineral brine mineralization of about 40-45 g/l. There are baths of 20-25 g/l and mineral baths up to 20 g/l.

The greater the mineralization of the bath, the more irritating it is. All baths, in order to enhance the effect of the procedure, are equipped with special compressors that create air bubbles in the water. Such a procedure is called "pearl bath". You can also turn on ozone in the bath and saturate the water with ozone. Ozone, when it enters the bath, immediately turns into oxygen and comes out of the water. We get a kind of inhalation, because when the patient lies in the bath, which is supplemented with ozone, he breathes in air with increased oxygen content. 

We also add different additives to the mineral bath, depending on what we are aiming at - soothing, stimulating, affecting the musculoskeletal system or the pulmonary system: rosemary, thyme, iodobromine additives. Iodine bromine supplements get into the central nervous system and when inhaled, it causes inhibition in the brain, and iodine improves metabolic processes. 

We also conduct baths with white turpentine - this is a very highly irritating bath, but they are very good for improving blood circulation. There are carbon dioxide baths, during which we pass carbon dioxide through the water and the carbon dioxide bubbles settle on the skin. The treatments with plain mineral water last up to 20 minutes.

What are the contraindications for mineral water bathing procedures?

First of all - cancer processes, as well as decompensated diseases, fever, diabetes. There are practically no age restrictions, you can carry out even children, but with certain restrictions - different mineralization, the inability to use some additives, reduced duration, water temperature more suitable for the child. All this is decided by the doctor depending on the condition of the patient, everything is very individual. And always the doctor observes how the patient feels during the procedure.  

What rules should be observed during this procedure?

After the bath the patient does not take a shower, he is given a towel, but it is not allowed to dry the body, only to dry the body so that as much salt as possible remained on the skin, so that this salt further irritates the nerve endings of the skin receptors. After this procedure, the patient should rest for about 20 minutes, before the next procedure should take at least an hour.

In total, we have developed many treatment programs for our patients, including more than 100 different therapeutic and preventive procedures. In addition to the use of mineral water and therapeutic mud, we offer various procedures of kinesiotherapy, physiotherapy, psychotherapeutic procedures and various types of massage. Any patient at the spa hotel Egle will be able to find effective for their health not only traditional methods, but also the most rare and unusual.