A muscle-relieving floating effect, penetrating warmth and natural, anti-inflammatory ingredients. This is the rule of three of the healing effects of the mountain pine raised moor in the Ammergau Alps Nature Park. In this article you will find out how the moor can help through these three modes of action.
The spa industry has a tradition that goes back to ancient Rome. The Romans already knew how to therapeutically integrate thermal springs and healing mud into their famous spas. However, their findings were largely forgotten in the Middle Ages. It was only with the beginning of the so-called summer resort around 200 years ago that the cure came back into the focus of a wider audience: wealthy city dwellers discovered the beneficial effects of certain climatic conditions or healing clays. The demand for cures rose steadily and soon the first places were officially recognized as spas and their natural remedies were certified as effective after intensive scientific assessment. To this day, every health resort has to renew this certification at regular intervals according to high scientific standards.
Bad Bayersoien and Bad Kohlgrub also look forward to one long spa tradition back. There, the unique mountain pine raised moor has been used to promote health for over 150 years. To this day, the moor is the focus of health applications in the Ammergau Alps Nature Park. On the one hand, it is used in natural mud packs: You lie down on a body-sized lounger filled with mud, on which you are covered and can enjoy the pleasant warmth of the mud while the ingredients of this natural remedy penetrate your body. On the other hand, there is the mud bath: If you climb into a mud tub for a bath, the mud affects your body in three ways. Let's now take a closer look at this rule of three:
Hover. The first sentence: Everyone knows the effect of a swimming pool: in the water you feel very light, you escape gravity to a certain extent. Due to the comparatively high density of the moor, this effect is felt much more intensely in the moor. When you lie in the moor tub, it feels as if you are floating, as if you were sleeping on soft down. This is where the term “black down” comes from, as the moor is often affectionately called here in the nature park. This floating effect not only invites you to let your thoughts wander, it also relieves strain on joints, ligaments and muscles.
Warmth. The second sentence: Before the bath, the moor is heated to 42° Celsius in special boilers. That sounds pretty warm, but since the moor has a low thermal conductivity, the bath is not perceived as too hot. This means that your body is penetrated very evenly by the heat. Heat is known to help relieve tension, but in a mud bath the heat effect goes even further:
Your body temperature slowly increases by a good 1,5 degrees, which naturally activates your body's self-healing powers. This is also referred to as natural healing fever. This positive stress reaction is a natural training stimulus for the immune system. It sometimes helps regulate blood pressure. The heat also helps open the pores of your skin. This promotes the detoxifying effect on the body and the absorption of nutrients. What this means is discussed in the following section:
The ingredients of the moor. The third sentence: In order to understand how the moor works, we first have to clarify how the moor was created and what it consists of.
The moor began with the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age 10.000 years ago. The glaciers left behind a large number of small lakes where, due to the topographical conditions, inflows or outflows were often unable to form. So they were stagnant, oxygen-poor waters. Various plants grew there, died, and fell into these ponds. Because of the lack of oxygen, they could not rot there, but were preserved and turned into peat. So the ingredients remained. This process was repeated continuously over the millennia until the moorland gradually developed into what it is today.
Not all bogs are the same. Depending on which plants occur in the affected area, the ingredients differ. The mountain pines, also known as mountain pines, are characteristic of the raised moor that is used in Bad Bayersoien and Bad Kohlgrub. When the pine trees peat, fulvic acids are formed, which promote the penetration of the skin by the various ingredients. Harmful substances are released through the pores that are expanded by the heat, while health-promoting substances are absorbed.
These include, among others, humic acids. These have anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects. So, among other things, they strengthen the immune system.
Minerals such as calcium strengthen bones, trace elements such as silica promote blood circulation and ensure more elastic and smoother skin.
The indirect effect of mud therapy, the impact on mental well-being, should not be underestimated: the body influences the psyche, and the psyche influences the body. If the body is made to relax during a moor treatment and any suffering is alleviated in the process, then this has a lasting positive effect on general well-being. This positive attitude can in turn support the healing process, for example through behavioral adjustment.
Now let's get to it indications together with which peat therapy can help:
- Rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis
- Women's problems, for example due to a disturbed hormonal balance
- fibromyalgia
- gout
- ankylosing spondylitis
- Arthrose
- Prostatitis
- Mental stress such as stress or burnout
- and also for prevention by strengthening the immune system.
Further information on how the moor works and contraindications is available here
How do I get my moor treatments?
There are different ones for this Scope:
One option is to take a three to four week treatment. Three mud baths are administered weekly, which are part of a more extensive, individually tailored therapy plan. Cures are mandatory services provided by statutory health insurance companies. How applying for a treatment works and which services are covered by the health insurance company, (Here you can find the entire collection.).
For those who do not want to wait for the health insurance company to cover the costs or whose application has been rejected, there is the option of a self-pay treatment. Those affected bear the costs for the moor treatments themselves. This option makes it possible to start the treatments straight away without long waiting times and enjoy the health benefits of the moor.
The trial mud bath offers an interesting option for the curious and beginners. Some moor hosts offer this special experience in which the effects of the moor can be felt on your own body.
The Health professionals The family-run mud bathing establishments in the Ammergau Alps Nature Park will be happy to advise you on your options. Thanks to their many years of experience, they will create an individually tailored therapy plan for you. Just ask!
The trial mud bath can also be booked in our adventure shop.
Tip: If you would like more detailed information about the moor, we recommend our Podcasts on this topic.