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BALNEOTHERAPEUTICS (Lat. balneum, a b...

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 285 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BALNEOTHERAPEUTICS (See also:Lat. balneum, a See also:bath, and Gr. Oepaaevecv, to treat medically) . The medical treatment of disease by See also:internal and See also:external use of See also:mineral See also:waters is quite distinct from " hydrotherapy," or the therapeutic uses of pure See also:water. But the See also:term " balneotherapeutics " has gradually come to be applied to everything See also:relating to See also:spa treatment, including the drinking of waters and the use of hot See also:baths and natural vapour baths, as well as of the various kinds of mud and See also:sand used for hot applications. The See also:principal constituents found in mineral waters are See also:sodium, See also:magnesium, See also:calcium and See also:iron, in See also:combination with the acids to See also:form chlorides, sulphates, sulphides and See also:carbonates. Other substances occasionally See also:present in sufficient quantity to exert a therapeutic See also:influence are See also:arsenic, See also:lithium, See also:potassium, See also:manganese, See also:bromine, See also:iodine, &c. The See also:chief gases in See also:solution are See also:oxygen, See also:nitrogen, carbonic See also:acid and sulphuretted See also:hydrogen. See also:Argon and See also:helium occur in some of the " See also:simple thermal " and " thermal See also:sulphur waters." There are few doctors who would deny the See also:great value of See also:special bathing and drinking See also:cures in certain morbid conditions. In the employment of the various mineral waters, many of the spas adopt special means by which they increase or modify their influence, e.g. the so-called " aromatic " or " medicated " baths, in which substances are mixed to exert a special influence on the skin and peripheral nerves. Of these the " See also:pine-See also:needle " bath has the greatest repute; it is made by adding a decoction of the needles or See also:young shoots of firs and pines. See also:Fir See also:wood oil (a mixture of ethereal See also:oils) or the See also:tincture of an alcoholic See also:extract acts equally well. The volatile ethereal constituents are sup-posed to penetrate the skin and to stimulate the cutaneous circulation and peripheral nerves, being eliminated later by the See also:ordinary channels.

Similar effects follow the addition to the bath of aromatic herbs, such as camomile, See also:

thyme, &c. For a full-sized bath 11 to 2 lb of herbs are tied in a See also:muslin bag and infused in a See also:gallon of boiling water; the juices are then ex-pressed and the infusion added to the bath. Astringent baths are prepared in a similar way from decoctions of See also:oak bark, See also:walnut leaves, &c. In many spas on the See also:European See also:continent baths are prepared from See also:peat or mud mixed with hot mineral water. Mineral peat consists of decomposing See also:vegetable See also:soil that has been so See also:long in the neighbourhood of the medicinal See also:spring that it has undergone See also:peculiar and variable chemical changes. This is mixed with the hot mineral water until the bath has the desired consistency, the effect on the patient being in almost See also:direct proportion to the See also:density. These baths vary greatly in See also:composition. Mud baths are chiefly prepared from muddy deposits found in the neighbourhood of the springs, as at St Amand. They See also:act like a large See also:poultice applied to the See also:surface of the See also:body, and in addition to the influence of the temperature, they exert a considerable See also:mechanical effect. The See also:pulse is accelerated some 6 to 12 beats a See also:minute, the respiration number rises, and the patient is thrown into a profuse See also:perspiration. They have very great value in gouty and rheumatic conditions and in some of the special troubles of See also:women. There are certain conditions in which mineral water treatment is distinctly contra-indicated.

Advanced cardiac disease and cardiac cases with failure of See also:

compensation must pre-eminently be treated at See also:home, not at a spa. Advanced arterio-sclerosis, any form of serious organic visceral disease, advanced cirrhosis, pulmonary See also:tuberculosis with a tendency to haemoptysis, much See also:elevation of temperature or emaciation, are all entirely unsuited for this form of treatment. Serious organic See also:nervous diseases, great nervous depression and old cases of See also:paralysis are all contra-indicated. Any trouble, however suited in itself for spa treatment, must be considered inapplicable if complicated with pregnancy. In advising balneo therapeutic treatment in any See also:case, all the conditions and habits of the patient—pecuniary, See also:physical and psychical—must be considered, as the spa must be fitted to the patient, not the patient to the spa. Besides the particular disease, the See also:idiosyncrasy of the patient must be considered, the same morbid See also:condition in different See also:people requiring very different treatment. Retarded convalescence is a condition often treated at the spas, although hygienic surroundings, both See also:mental and physical, are usually all that is necessary to ensure See also:complete recovery. After rheumatic See also:fever, however, if the See also:joints remain painful and the See also:heart is dilated, the thermal gaseous saline water of See also:Nauheim, augmented by Schott's resistance movements, will often appear to See also:work wonders. Chronic See also:rheumatism, where there is much exudation See also:round a See also:joint or incipient stiffness of a joint, may be relieved by hot thermal treatment, especially when combined with various forms of See also:massage and exercises. Simple thermal waters, hot sulphur springs and hot muriated waters are all successful in different cases. Chronic See also:muscular rheumatism can also be benefited in a similar manner. Diseases of the nervous See also:system are on the whole treated by these means with small success.

Mental diseases other than very mild cases of depression should be considered inapplicable. Neurasthenics are sometimes treated at chalybeate or thermal muriated saline spas; but such treatment is entirely secondary to the See also:

general management of the case. Neuralgic affections and the later stages of See also:neuritis, especially when dependent on See also:gout or rheumatism, are often relieved or cured. Abdominal venosity (abdominal plethora), a feature of obesity, glycosuria, &c., are extremely well fitted for this form of treatment. The alkaline sulphated waters, the See also:bitter waters and the See also:common See also:salt waters can all be prescribed, and after a See also:short course can be supplemented with various forms of active and passive exercises. Diseases of the See also:respiratory See also:organs are far more suited for See also:climatic treatment than for treatment by baths. See also:Anaemia can usually be better or equally well treated at home, or by seaside See also:residence or a See also:sea voyage, though many physicians prescribe chloride ofsodium waters, followed by a course of iron waters at some suitably situated spa. In the anaemia dependent on malarial infection, the muriated or alkaline sulphated waters at spas of considerable elevation and combined with iron and arsenic are often very beneficial. See also:Gravel and See also:stone, if of the uric acid variety, can be treated with the alkaline waters, but the case must be under See also:constant observation lest the urine become too alkaline and a deposition of See also:phosphates take See also:place on the already formed uric acid stone. Gout is so variable both in cause and effect that much discrimination is required in its treatment. Where the patient is of " full See also:habit," with portal stagnation, the sulphated alkaline or mild bitter waters are indicated, especially those of See also:Carlsbad and See also:Marienbad; but the use of these strong waters must be followed by a long See also:rest under strict hygienic conditions. Where this is impossible, a milder course must be advised, as at Homburg, See also:Kissingen, See also:Harrogate, See also:Wiesbaden, See also:Baden-Baden, &c.

For very delicate patients, and where See also:

time is limited, the simple thermal waters are preferable. For radiant See also:heat and See also:light baths and electric baths of all kinds, see See also:ELECTROTHERAPEUTICS; and for compressed See also:air baths, See also:AEROTHERAPEUTICS.

End of Article: BALNEOTHERAPEUTICS (Lat. balneum, a bath, and Gr. Oepaaevecv, to treat medically)

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