Somehow, everything old becomes new again. Mineral bath treatment, or balneotherapy, is certainly not new. Water immersion in spas has been practiced for centuries and the practice has many believers. For thousands of years, people in Europe sought out water cures for various ailments.

Recently, patients suffering from post polio syndrome “put history to the test” by trying mineral baths and massage to alleviate their symptoms.

Post polio syndrome is a condition that may develop several decades after a person had polio. Having the syndrome does not mean that the person has developed polio again.

Post polio syndrome is a very slowly progressing condition marked by long periods of stability. It is rarely life threatening. It is estimated that 25 percent to 40 percent of people who had polio during childhood will develop post polio syndrome 30 to 40 years later.

Many health care professionals know very little about the syndrome, since polio was virtually eliminated in the 1950s.

Symptoms include new muscle weakness, fatigue and pain. Muscles whose nerves were damaged because of polio are the same muscles that can weaken and waste away. People with post polio syndrome can develop weakness in muscles that they didn’t realize were affected by polio. There is no cure for post polio syndrome. Treatment is aimed at controlling symptoms and learning new ways to stay active and productive.

Royal Oak resident Bill Pickett, founder of the southeastern chapter of the Post Polio Syndrome Support Group, contracted polio at 9 months old. He spent a month in an iron lung and his right leg was left paralyzed by the disease. Pickett recently volunteered to take part in treatments at St. Joseph Hospital’s Bath Wing in Mount Clemens.

“It’s another tool I can use,” Pickett said of the mineral baths and massages, which are also available to the general public. A 30-minute mineral bath costs about $40, and a one-hour bath and massage package runs $75.

During a two-week period, Pickett tried daily mineral baths and six massages. He also used a mineral gel rub each day. The Birmingham-based AcheAway Corp., which manufactures the gel rub for at-home use, paid for the volunteers’ treatments. AcheAway products are made from Mount Clemens minerals, but the products don’t have the oily black film and sulfur smell that marked mineral baths of the late 19th century.

Pickett said the massages and baths offered some relief from his symptoms. After using crutches for 25 years and spending time at the computer keyboard, his hands were “worn out.” Pickett said he has noticed improvement in his hands after using the treatments. He also noted improvements in sleep, and said he was able to reduce some of his medications while taking part in the experiment.

There are a few scientific studies measuring the benefits of mineral baths. However, none of the studies involved people with post polio syndrome.

Earlier this year, researchers studied patients using mineral baths at a European health resort.

The treatment resulted in improved circulation. In 2001, Russian doctors studied the effects of mineral baths on children with brain injuries.

The children received exercises, massage and baths. The doctors found that these treatments diminished the number and severity of symptoms. A two-week double blind study in Israel with people suffering from osteoarthritis in the knees found significant improvement at the end of the treatment.

Preventive efforts today are focused on wiping out polio. Problems with the oral polio vaccine, which used live polio virus, caused the United States Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to change its policy on polio vaccinations. It is now recommended that an inactive Polio Vaccine-only immunization schedule be followed.

Doctors recommend that polio survivors maintain standard healthy lifestyle practices, including consuming a well- balanced diet, exercising in moderation, and visiting a doctor regularly. The following lifestyle changes are considered the most beneficial: using energy-saving techniques, employing household help, buying special equipment, modifying the home, cutting back on work, and following a general conditioning exercise program.

There has been much debate about whether to encourage or discourage exercise for polio survivors or people with post polio syndrome.

AcheAway is the maker of AcheAway Gel Rub, Bath Salts and Massage Lotion, which all use the 34 Natural Minerals found in Mineral Water from Mt. Clemens, Michigan.

By: Susan Gans

The Greeks and Romans did it. Ottomans and the Japanese practiced its health-enhancing benefits. Stretching back to Mesopotamia, spa-going is not a new phenomenon. It’s been practiced for thousands of years and by an untold number of cultures.

There’s some disagreement as to the derivation of the word spa. It has been suggested that the word originates from the Latin verb “spagere” – to pour forth, or as in the phrase, “Salus Per Aquam,” meaning health through water, but these assertions are only suggestions. More likely, the term is derived from the name of the Belgium town, Spa, well-known since Medieval times as a source for healing illnesses caused by iron deficiency. Patrons there drank chalybeate, or iron bearing, spring water whose mineral essentials healed what ailed them. An Englishman who had been to the town of Spa, discovered a chalybeate spring in Yorkshire, England, where he built what became known as the first English resort for drinking medicinal waters. As time went on, the word “spa” referred less to resorts for water drinking and more generally defined a place offering external remedies.

No matter its word origins, the spa has served as a prominent place in many cultures. During the Classical Age, Homer and other writers reported how Greeks enjoyed a variety of baths, as early as 500 B.C. Emperor Agrippa, in 25 B.C., created the first Roman thermae, or large-scale spa. As emperors tried to outdo the efforts of the last, thermaes were built across the Roman Empire, from Africa to England. These sometimes extravagant complexes included sport activities, restaurants, and a variety of baths.

Although the Roman model of hot/cold baths, massage, exercise, and skin treatments was formative to today’s spa experience, these traditions can also be as varied as the cultures who indulged in them. In 737 A.D., the first onsen, or hot springs, was opened near Izumo, Japan. Later, ryoken, or inns, were built to offer Japanese patrons accommodations, fine food, Zen gardens, and a various baths. In the Ottoman Empire, beautifully designed mosaic hammans are still admired today. The Baths of Roxelana, built in 1556, was a crowning example of the Ottoman spa, with a massive towering steam room, washing quarters, and expansive massage platforms.

In Europe, spas flourished around natural hot springs. Places like Bath, England and Baden-Baden, Germany became popular resort towns because of their natural thermal waters. These European spa towns were known as ville d’eau, or town of water. Taking the waters at places like Bath served as a fashionable means of leisure. As the only naturally occurring hot springs in the United Kingdom, it was a resort city for the wealthy during the Elizabethan and Georgian eras. Britain’s Queen Victoria was an annual visitor to Baden-Baden and made the health benefits of this spa town well known during her reign. The Europeans also became scientific about their spa-going during this time. Regimens were developed by various individuals attempting to treat disease and create a holistic approach to living.

The healing properties of hot springs were being discovered by the Native Americans as well. Referred to as Valley of the Vapors, Hot Springs, Arkansas drew various tribes to its springs. By 1832, the Hot Springs National Park was formed, which granted protection of the thermal waters, giving Hot Springs the distinction of being the first national park to be designated for government protection. Nicknamed “The American Spa,” visitors from around the world flocked to the natural hot springs. Today, this rich history is preserved in the faithfully-restored Fordyce Bathhouse, a museum and visitors center on Bathhouse Row. A variety of bathing facilities are open as well to visitors on Bathhouse Row and in hotels and spas downtown.

Meanwhile, New York’s Saratoga Springs drew the likes of Edgar Allen Poe and Franklin Delano Roosevelt during its heyday. Its healing powers were originally well known to area Native Americans who introduced Sir William Johnson, a British hero of the French and Indian Wars, to the springs for his war wounds. The rich and famous also traveled to Mount Clemens, Michigan, to experience its magical mineral waters pumped from 1,400 feet under the city. Following the opening of the first bath house, “America’s Bath City” reached its height of popularity in the early 1900s.

Elizabeth Arden, cosmetic maven, introduced thousands to the concept of the day spa when she opened the Red Door Salon in Manhattan in 1910. There, women indulged in manicures, facials, and the signature “Arden Wax.” Arden also transformed her home in Maine into a health spa named Maine Chance. Her long list of celebrity clientele included Mamie Eisenhower. The world’s first destination spa, Rancho la Puerta, was opened in California in 1940 by Edmond and Deborah Szekely. Long before organic food became en vogue, the Szekelys espoused the benefits of organically grown foods, which are so popular in spa resorts today.

From the ancient days of “taking the waters,” to today’s more scientific treatments such as hydrodermabrasion, spa-going has emerged as a part of a global awareness for prevention, healthy lifestyles, fitness, relaxation, and spirituality. What was once intended for the wealthy has now been embraced by popular culture. Spa boundaries are no longer just defined by a place or destination. Patrons of the spa can enjoy its influence in everything from fashion and cosmetics to home dacor and cuisine – all creating an overall sense of wellbeing and catapulting the spa to the fourth-largest leisure industry in the U.S.

By: Ann Knapp