Soligorsk. Republican Speleotherapy Center.

There are many unique medical centers in the world, but there are no analogues to what is located in Belarusian Soligorsk anywhere else. This is not just a hospital, it is a real symbiosis of high technology, harsh industrial romance and the generosity of nature hidden deep underground.

The Republican Speleotherapy Center is located in a picturesque place: a pine forest, the shore of the Soligorsk reservoir. It seems that the air here already has healing powers. However, the main miracle is hidden from view - at a depth of 420 meters, in the depths of potash mines.

The Martian corridors of health.

An underground hospital is not just chambers dug into the rock. It is a futuristic space designed in a style that staff and patients call "Martian". Snow-white vaults, futuristic arches and crystal-clear rock salt walls create the illusion that you are on another planet. There is a special atmosphere here, deep in the earth: stable temperature and humidity are maintained all year round, and most importantly, a unique microclimatic environment.

This environment is the main attending physician. The air saturated with an aerosol of potassium salt has a powerful physiotherapeutic effect:

· Antiallergic: the air of the mine literally "washes out" allergens from the respiratory tract, reducing bronchial hyperreactivity.

· Anti-inflammatory and antibacterial: the high dispersion of salt aerosol suppresses the growth of pathogenic microflora in the nasopharynx and bronchi, relieving inflammatory processes without massive drug load.

· Drainage effect: under the influence of speleotherapy, the tone of the smooth muscle fibers of the bronchial tree decreases, viscous sputum is liquefied, the rheological properties of secretions and the natural drainage of the bronchi are significantly improved. It becomes easier to breathe literally after the first procedures.

How it works.

The center is unique in its two-level system. There are two hospitals here:

1. Ground level: a classic hospital in the forest, where patients undergo diagnosis and adaptation.

2. Underground: the heart of the center. To get there, patients descend into the mine, traveling several kilometers underground. The treatment takes place in specially equipped galleries where you can sleep, read or just breathe while walking along the salt drifts.

The course of treatment is prescribed individually. While some patients enjoy the silence and clean air at a depth of 420 meters, others are under the round-the-clock supervision of pulmonologists in the ground building.

It is important to know: contraindications.

The miracle method has a downside. The powerful effect of speleotherapy is a serious strain on the body. Treatment in salt mines is contraindicated for people with:

· acute infectious diseases;

· severe forms of hypertension and coronary heart disease;

· oncological diseases;

· chronic diseases in the acute stage;

· tuberculosis of the lungs (active form);

· a number of other pathologies that are determined by the doctor at the selection stage.

The Republican Speleotherapy Center is a national treasure of Belarus. Not only Belarusians come here, but also patients from Russia, the Baltic States, Germany and Israel to undergo treatment that is not available anywhere else in the world. This place proves that sometimes the best medicine is hidden not in pharmacy packages, but deep in the bowels of the earth, given by nature.