Thalassotherapy

In the original Greek, the word “thalassa” means “sea” and the word “therapeia means “care”. In other words, thalassotherapy uses virtues of seawater, algae, marine muds and the marine climate for therapeutic purposes.

Thalassotherapy fosters the penetration of ionic particles into the human body which thus prepared, can enjoy sea water’s bountiful benefits. By infiltrating intercellular spaces, these particles give the cells the living elements they need to maintain their balance, extend their longevity and delay aging.

Thalassotherapy fosters calm and relaxation, and improves the circulation of blood and lymph, thus restoring energy. Since the cure calls for an intense effort on the part of your system, music and rest will help you relax and make the most of your cure.

A thalassotherapy cure is also an excellent opportunity to take the time to enjoy life, get in some exercise and modify some dietary habits. It helps your system eliminate toxins and encourages you to develop a new lifestyle.

Taking an Aqua-Mer cure – far from any source of pollution – means recharging your system with marine elements that can only be found near the sea. This is the ideal way to get rid of the stress accumulated throughout the year.

“We were born of water, and it was there that the first living cells appeared. Water and our lives are bound together.” (J.-Y. Cousteau)

Used since antiquity for its curative properties, thalassotherapy combines the effects of sea water and the marine climate to relax and treat curists. Our tired, assaulted, sometimes painful bodies open up to the benefits of the sea’s energy.

Purified, our skin allows essential trace elements (magnesium, calcium, etc…) to penetrate and recharge our cells; 70% of our internal system is composed of water.

The buoyancy of sea water makes us lighter, relieves pressure on intervertebral disks and relaxes our muscles. Agitated sea water, concentrated in jets, massages painful areas, improves blood and lymph circulation, and refines the silhouette.

Soothed by the beneficial Carleton-sur-Mer climate, our vital functions recover a natural rhythm: the heart slows down our breathing becomes calmer and our lungs fill up with purified air (the air of the “wide open sea”, almost totally free of microbes and dusts).

Renal stimulation eliminates toxins and completes the renaissance of our system. To ensure a long-lasting return to fitness, an atmosphere rich in negative ions soothes tensions and improves our resistance to daily assaults.

At Aqua-Mer Thalassothérapie, our entire team takes pleasure in accompanying you on your journey to the source of health and equilibrium.

Origin of thalassotherapy

Thalassotherapy has existed in Europe for many years. Hippocrates himself praised its merits. It was rediscovered in the late 19th century by an English physician, Dr. Richard Russel; today its benefits are recognised in European medical textbooks.

A recent arrival in North America, thalassotherapy is used for preventive and restoring purposes ; it has spawned the concept of “health vacations”.

Distinction
There is a distinction between a thermal cure, a spa, balneotherapy and thalassotherapy. The difference lies in the therapeutic value of the water used.

Spa : Half-way between a beauty salon and a physical fitness centre, a typical spa offers massages, whirlpool baths and beauty care. The water has no specific therapeutic value.

Balneotherapy: This therapy uses running water to which may be added marine products that recreate some of the qualities of sea water. It is recommended as a means of maintaining the benefits of thalassotherapy between annual or biennial cures.

Thermal cure: A treatment method that uses hot, aerated, laxative or sulphurous waters that rise spontaneously from a well or spring. These waters are used externally and internally to produce their therapeutic effect.

Thalassotherapy: Therapy that uses the properties of the sea, the marine climate, and marine products such as muds and algae for therapeutic purposes. The water is taken directly from the sea using powerful pumps and is maintained in constant movement to preserve its bio-electric potential.

Sea water cannot be “captured”. Kept in containers, it loses many of its biological effects, radioactivity, nutritional elements and gases in less than two days. Only fresh sea water, pumped in from offshore, has a bioelectrical potential because it is constantly in movement and loaded with energy, like algae and the climate. Centre Aqua-Mer is equipped with pumping facilities used to bring in pure, living water directly from the sea.

Sea water is central to thalassotherapy. It acts as a natural transmineralisation, detoxification, cleansing and stimulating agent beneficial to the entire organism.

Heated to 37 degrees C (body temperature), it does not cause the blood vessels to contract, as cold water does when we swim at the beach. On the contrary, it stimulates vasodilatation to improve the circulation; it relaxes the muscles and liberates toxins. Mineral salts and marine trace elements can thus more easily penetrate the body, which consequently feels charged with new energy.

Marine algae contain the same elements as sea water; they are very rich in negative ions since they concentrate the sea water’s energy in addition to capturing the solar energy that passes through the water.
Marine muds have a higher mineral content than terrestrial muds; they have three major physical qualities that make them interesting for thalassotherapy treatment.

•They retain heat particularly well.
• They also retain water very well, producing a smooth easy-to-use paste.
• They soften when manipulated and harden when left to rest.

What’s more, like algae, muds serve as a condenser, helping the marine ions to penetrate the skin. They soothe the pain of arthritis and rheumatism.

The marine air also plays a role in a thalassotherapy cure. It contains the same elements as sea water and marine products. At the seashore, negative ions can enter an organism through the respiratory passages.
In fact, sea air is full of microscopic droplets called spindrift or sea spray. Because they are so fine, they travel through the respiratory passages and penetrate the pulmonary alveoli and from there, enter the perialveolary circulation.

At the seashore, we draw energy from the sea and a great deal of oxygen – especially at sunrise and when the tide comes in.

Carleton-sur-Mer is the only town recognised for the quality of its air – free of pollen and other sources of respiratory allergies.

In 1997, no ragweed pollen was detected in the air in Carleton-sur-Mer and the concentrations of grass pollens were either slight or lower yet.

Evidence in hand, a comparison with other sites of interest was one of the instructive findings of this study on summer pollen counts at Carleton-sur-Mer.

In Montréal, the average concentration of Gramineae pollens during the summer season is 38 grains of pollen/m³ of air per day (with a peak of 266 grains of pollen/m³ of air per day). In fact, in Montréal, the risk is moderate to high on 39% of the days during the Gramineae season, and in the case of ragweed, this degree of risk occurs on 60% of the days.

In the State of New York (Albany), and in Atlantic France (Brest), average concentrations respectively of 30 and 31 grains of pollen/m³ of air/day were observed, with maximums reaching respectively 76 and 240 grains of pollen/m³ of air/day. This means that the risk in those areas is similar to that estimated for Montréal; in all cases, the risk is 8 to 10 times higher than the estimated risk at Carleton-sur-Mer.

Comparison of pollen concentrations (/m³) for ragweed, grasses and their maximum values for various locations.

In conclusion, because pollen counts are so low at Carleton-sur-Mer, there is just no comparison to the situation observed elsewhere as far as the likelihood of suffering from pollen-related allergies is concerned.

A study conducted in 1997 by Paul Comtois of the Laboratoire d’Aérobiologie at Université de Montréal revealed that the Carleton-sur-Mer region deserves its reputation as a paradise for pollen-related allergy sufferers.