How a course is built for knee and hip osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and joint pain, which procedures are combined and what to expect.
This article is general information and does not replace medical advice. Procedures are prescribed only after an examination and after contraindications have been checked.
Most guests who come to Naftalan arrive with a joint complaint: osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, rheumatoid arthritis, conditions following rheumatic disease, and long-standing joint pain. In this group naftalan does not work alone — the course is a combination of procedures.
Where it is considered
- Osteoarthritis — particularly of the knee and hip, in the chronic stage.
- Rheumatoid arthritis — only in remission and on a rheumatologist's opinion, not during active inflammation.
- Joint complaints following rheumatic disease — in a stable period.
- Long-standing joint pain and restricted movement — once the cause has been established.
What goes into the course
A joint programme is usually built like this:
- A naftalan bath, or a local bath — depending on which joints are involved; a local bath for one knee or a foot is possible.
- Shockwave therapy — to local painful points.
- SIS therapy, the super-inductive magnetic field — non-invasive, reaching deep tissue.
- Laser therapy and infrared — in local programmes.
- Therapeutic massage and lymphatic drainage — where swelling and muscle tension come with it.
- Mud and paraffin applications — heat applications, a separate procedure.
Which procedures combine, and in what order, is the doctor's decision; two guests with the same diagnosis can hold different schedules.
What can be expected
The aim of a sanatorium course is to reduce pain, support range of movement and make daily life easier. Structural change that has already happened in an osteoarthritic joint does not reverse — a source promising that is not telling the truth. The result is individual, it accumulates over a course, and it does not replace what your rheumatologist or orthopaedic surgeon has prescribed.
When it is not prescribed
Active inflammation and flares, fever, infection in a joint, malignant tumours, severe heart or kidney failure, a tendency to bleed, pregnancy. After recent surgery or injury the timing is judged separately.
Before you travel
Bring your X-ray or MRI images, the opinion of your rheumatologist or orthopaedic surgeon, and a list of what you take. Send them in advance and our doctors can say before the trip whether a course suits the stage you are at, and roughly how long it should be.
