Cave Therapy

Dressed in only my swimming trunks and a bath robe, I climbed aboard the narrow gauge train to tale me 2.5km (1.5 miles) deep inside the mountains at Bad Gastein in Austria to lay for an hour in temperatures in excess of 37oC and breathe in Radon Gas while humidity levels reach as high as 95 per cent.

Such an extraordinary journey would, to most, seem beyond belief. But incredibly, 10,000 people a year undertake a similar journey and all in the interests of health. In conjunction with what the Austrians describe as "Wellness Weeks" the treatment has been scientifically proved by countless medical professors from around the world as being especially therapeutic in the treatment of certain ailments such as muscular diseases, respiratory conditions, degenerative spinal syndrome, arthrosis and chronic polyarthritis.

The Gastein Curative Tunnel is unique by global standards and is backed by the medical profession throughout Austria, Germany and Holland. It is also supported by leading European insurance companies who will pay for a course of treatment when recommended by a GP.

The Tunnel's therapeutic properties are achieved because the natural tunnel air contains as much as 4.5 Nonocurie of radon per litre; the ambient temperature levels range from 37oC to 41.5oC; and the relative humidity reaches between 70 and 95 per cent.

Before any patient is allowed into the Gastein Curative Tunnel, a doctor will carry out a medical check before signing an approval form for you to enter the Tunnel. You will be advised to drink a litre of water as your body will lose a high volume of fluid during the hour-long "cure" laying on a bed covered in nothing at all! You will have removed both your bathrobe and swimwear before laying down on a bed, relaxing in subdued lighting and listening only to the shallow breathing of the 50 of so other patients taking "the cure" with you. Most patients sign up for a two or three week course and during this time enter the Tunnel every other day under the supervision of medical staff.

I stayed in a 5 star hotel, the luxurious Europaischerhof, where facilities include an indoor swimming pool, fully equipped gymnasium, solarium, body and facial massage parlours, salt therapies pools, hairdressing and a range of activity programmes for both men and women designed to make you feel - and look - younger after your stay.

The cuisine is varied but there is a strong emphasis on "healthy eating". The Gastein Valley's 'Thermal Temple' swimming pool is so called because it contains the mineral rich waters of the 3,500 year old underground wells believed to have a purifying effect on the inner body.

13 June 2005