Joint and spine treatment with naftalan

Joints and the spine are the commonest reason for coming to Naftalan. This is not a single procedure but a programme the doctor assembles after examining you, with the naftalan bath at its centre.

What the programme can include

• A naftalan bath — full, sitz or local; the four-chamber version where the full bath is contraindicated.
• An application — when the complaint sits in one area: a knee, the lower back, a shoulder.
• Physiotherapy — magnet therapy, shockwave, electrophoresis, phonophoresis, amplipulse; the choice follows the diagnosis.
• Traction — spinal traction, where indicated.
• Therapeutic massage and movement — to build the muscular support back up.

The complaints it is used for

Osteoarthritis, arthritis and rheumatoid complaints, osteochondrosis, back and neck pain, sciatica, and recovery after injury or surgery. With a spinal disc herniation naftalan is not a treatment in itself: it may act on the pain and the inflammation, but the decision belongs to the doctor reading your imaging.

What to expect

The aim is not to restore cartilage — that cannot be done. The aim is less pain, a wider range of movement and a longer remission. The result accumulates over the course; at least ten sessions are advised, and a standard course runs 10 to 14 days.

When it is postponed

If a joint is acutely swollen and hot, that is a flare and heat procedures wait. The flare has to settle first, and the examination on arrival decides that.

This procedure is part of a naftalan treatment course; it is prescribed after the examination described under Naftalan baths.