By Spooky on March 18th, 2013 Category: Travel
The largest pain management center in the world, and a popular health
tourism destination, the Healing Caves of Gastein welcome over 75,000
people every year. They all flock to this miraculous place to undergo
a controversial form of therapy with radioactive radon gas used to cure a
variety of medical conditions, from arthritis to psoriasis.
When the people of Gastein started exploring the nearby Radhausberg
Mountain in search of gold, they had no idea they would discover
something infinitely more valuable – naturally occurring low levels of
radon gas. In time, they realized that the radioactive gas combined with
the mountain caves’ high humidity and temperatures of up to 41.5°
Celsius helped strengthen their immune system and cured some very
serious illnesses. Word about the Gastein Healing Caves spread
like wild fire throughout all of Austria, Germany and other Central
European countries, and today Gastein is known not only as a world-class
skiing destination, but also as a miraculous place of healing with a
mind-blowing success rate of 90%. Most of the people who come here for
radon treatment say a few sessions in the caves keep them pain-free for a
whole year. Apparently, the radioactive gas is absorbed through the
skin and lungs, activating the body at a cellular level and stimulating
the self-healing process.
At the entrance level, the Gastein
Healing Caves healing center looks like any other super-modern medical
clinic, with doctors and staff dressed in immaculate white robes, but
the real magic happens deep inside Radhausberg Mountain. After they
check in, patients are directed to the changing rooms and instructed to
leave their mobile phones and other high-tech gadgets in personal
lockers, as they can be damaged by the caves’ high humidity. Once
they’ve slipped into their bathing suits, patients go though a short
introductory speech about what awaits them in the healing caverns, after
which they are invited to board a miniature yellow train that takes
them two kilometers inside the mountain. The first thing you’ll notice
is even the train’s conductor is wearing a bathing suit, but as you
approach your final destination and temperatures reach close to 40°
Celsius, his attire starts to make sense.
Once the train reaches the healing galleries, patients are invited to
lie down on the wooden beds lining the walls of the caves and relax.
Talking is discouraged and the only disturbing sounds you hear are the
physicians’ footsteps as they patrol through the rock tunnels, and the
occasional snoring. Due to the high humidity and sauna-like temperature,
the hot atmosphere in this place can be a little hard to handle for
some, and if it becomes unbearable, all you have to do is push a button
and a crew will come and whisk you away to a special cooling room where
fresh air is blasted in through a pipe. For emergency cases, there is
even a spare train that can quickly take patients back outside.
Although radon gas therapy is accepted in Austria and Germany, and
even available on health insurance, physicians in other countries are
skeptical about treating patients with radioactive gas, even in small
doses. High levels of radon are believed to be toxic and can increase
the risk of lung cancer, but doctors at the Gastein Healing Caves are
firm believers in the principle of hormesis. They believe small doses of
particular toxic substances can be beneficial to humans, even if high
doses can be dangerous or even lethal. And scientific studies conducted
on patients visiting the healing caves seem to agree with them. In 2001,
Maastricht University studied patients with ankylosing spondylitis, a
condition characterized by severe joint pain and stiffness. One group of
patients underwent radon gas therapy followed by physiotherapy, a
second group had sauna treatment and physiotherapy, and a third one had
only physiotherapy. The group treated with radon showed the most
significant signs f improvement. Also, in 2000, Leipzig University
studied a group of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. After
six months of treatment at Gastein, their condition had improved
greatly.
Research has shown the radon treatment at the Gastein Healing Caves
is particularly beneficial to patients with musculoskeletal and joint
disorders, as well as respiratory and skin diseases. People who spent
years of their lives looking for conventional cures for their illnesses
now come to this place every year, after recovering miraculously in
these world-famous caverns.
Sources:
Pilot-Pr,
Daily Mail
Photos ©
Gastein.com
Jadili Africa
