Skin, psyche, respiratory tract, bones, metabolism. The entire body can benefit from a seaside vacation that, in addition to being pleasant, can also be concretely therapeutic. “Obviously you can’t expect to get benefits from a weekend. You need at least a week, the ideal would be to allow yourself 2”, explains Fausto Bonsignori, professor of the Master’s degree in thermal medicine at the University of Pisa, to Adnkronos Salute, who lists all the ‘healing powers’ of a seaside stay. “In this case, however, we are not talking about real thalassotherapy, which is a specific medical discipline: a branch of codified thermal medicine, with standardized treatments, precise treatments, followed by a doctor who visits, evaluates, prescribes, monitors. With treatment objectives obtained using sea water and mud”, points out the expert, highlighting that, in any case, even from a simple beach vacation you can get a lot.
“With a stay at the seaside of at least 7 days – he continues – you get certain benefits, starting from the action of the marine climate which has extraordinary effects”. First of all for the air we breathe, which is a marine aerosol, an air rich in salt particles, especially if we are within 1 km of the shoreline. The marine aerosol is rich in negative ions which are very good for our overall psychophysical health. In general, in the city and in closed environments we breathe air with positive ions which in the long run create disturbances (irritability, headache, even psychological discomfort)”. The marine air, on the other hand, “improves the mood, the sense of well-being. There is a better response of the psychophysical balance of the organism, an improvement in respiratory capacity. As is known, moreover, the marine air is very good for allergy sufferers, because at the seaside allergens are rare compared to the countryside or the city”.
The first benefit, therefore, “is climatic. For this reason I advise patients to take simple walks in the morning on the beach or on the promenade, doing small breathing exercises, so as to breathe in the marine arosol”, recommends the expert. Even exposure to the sun, “if measured and protected, is very beneficial: it promotes the synthesis of vitamin D and is very useful especially for people who spend little time outdoors during the year”. Furthermore, the marine climate, adds Bonsignori, “is stimulating for the metabolism and for some glandular functions. You breathe iodine, so the basal metabolism is significantly stimulated. It is no coincidence that this climate is not recommended for people with very advanced thyroid pathologies, with uncontrolled hyperthyroidism”.
To the healthy air is added the benefit of sea water, which “if used in thalassotherapy is used (and treated) like a thermal water, with its medical path and the prescribed indications. If instead we talk about the beach and baths – continues Bonsignori – the effects are above all musculoskeletal, of reactivation, of stimulation of the respiratory and cardiac function, of improvement of the macro circulation”.
A seaside holiday, moreover, “is very useful for some skin conditions. Seborrheic dermatitis, an annoying condition, for example, benefits greatly thanks to the combined positive effects of sun and sea water”. Even for acne “significant improvements are obtained because sea water has an anti-inflammatory and disinfectant action, and the sun has a healing action”. Finally, psoriasis, “a disease that affects 3% of the population and that registers a notable improvement at the seaside. Even in the scaly form. The skin lesion improves markedly. The sun is a natural phototherapy – a treatment that is commonly used for these disorders”. If then “these conditions are treated in a thalassotherapy centre, the doctor indicates the therapies and the treatment is optimised to the maximum”.
Added to all this is the effect of physical activity “through swimming, gymnastics and walking in the water”, the expert points out. Finally, “people with lymphatic venous diseases of the lower limbs obtain beneficial effects by walking in the sea. This is thanks to the hydrostatic pressure, which has the same effect as compression stockings”. Furthermore, “sea water is not simple, but mineral, the most complete in the world, which in addition to physical pressure also has a chemical action, with a strong osmotic pressure. In this way it reduces edema and has a very strong anti-inflammatory and antibacterial action, so the legs feel lighter. Walking in the water, possibly on a not too uneven bottom and immersing yourself beyond the waist (it is useless to do it immersing yourself up to the knee), is very useful against the sensation of heavy legs”, concludes Bonsignori, highlighting that even the “psyche draws many benefits from a seaside holiday, as long as it is not a hit and run”.
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