This was first published in Excelencias Magazine, written by Dr. MsC. Julio César Ginarte Suárez.
Cuba’s insular characteristic, as well as its tropical climate and other natural gifts, have given it plenty of sea, thermal and medicinal water deposits, which are perfect to create a water route on the island.
The study of medicinal water and mud in Cuba dates back to the 1920s, when the mysticism surrounding balneology began to progressively disappear, thanks to the work carried out by outstanding scientists.
Ever since, specialists have not only done research on the origin and makeup of these seams of water and mud, but also on their impact on organs and tissues, both in healthy and sick people, in an effort to establish indications, contraindications and methods.
The geological characteristics of this archipelago have favored the existence, in all of the 15 provinces and Isla de la Juventud, of sulfurous, bromide, siliceous, arsenical and ferruginous waters, with complex makeup.
San Vicente, in Viñales; San Diego de los Baños and Soroa are the main sites with these characteristics in Pinar del Rio. They feature sulfurized-calcic waters within gorgeous natural environments. San Diego de los Baños has the oldest spa in the country, where excellent medical services are provided. Such treatments as balneotherapy and mud therapy can be enjoyed there, where research processes are conducted to produce cosmetics based on sulfurized water and medicinal mud.
In Mayabeque, La Paila spa is located near Madruga town. Several springs of sulfurized and bicarbonate water converge in this place. These waters also have magnesium and calcium, and they are perfect to treat rheumatologic, dermatologic, respiratory, digestive and stress-related complaints.
This Center offers some twenty therapies aimed at fighting back several diseases. One of the main treatments is based on taking baths in the medicinal pool, with capacity for 100 people.
Hydro massage is another distinctive therapy, as well as the treatment with hydropinic waters, which features therapeutic properties to treat giardiasis and other digestive disorders.
San Miguel de los Baños spa is nestled in Matanzas province, near Varadero. Its medicinal waters, made up of bicarbonate and magnesium, have high levels silica and organic material so they are great for gastrointestinal treatments.
The north coast of central Villa Clara province harbors internationally renowned Elguea Hotel-Spa. This facility offers a state-of-the-art Thermal Unit, the one and only of its kind in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The group of keys made up of Guillermo, Coco, Santa Maria and Sabinal, among others, is located north of the country’s central region. This area houses a center with a rich balneotherapeutic tradition, San Jose del Lago, which features thermal medicinal waters with bicarbonate calcium characteristics.
In Cienfuegos, besides the great seaweed bed, visitors find the reservoir of sodium chloride medicinal waters of Ciego Montero, which are nationally and internationally famous. This spa is located 20 km away from the provincial capital. Patients from around the world go to this place, suffering from: arthritis, degenerative osteoarthritis, bursitis, surgical and accident-related aftereffects, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, polyneuropathies and child brain paralysis; among others.
Within the framework of 2018 Salud para Todos Trade Fair, Comercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos S.A. will launch the Water Route in Cuba, which goes from Havana to San Diego de los Baños Spa in Pinar del Rio, comprising the use of all types of water (including sea water). The Route will be later complemented by other provinces that have these natural resources, which are so beneficial to human health.
