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Patients after COVID-19 who struggle with the long-term effects of the disease recover in an underground sanatorium in the Wieliczka salt mine. Two and a half hours a day under the supervision of specialized medical staff, in an atmosphere free of pollutants and allergens, gives hope to overcome fatigue, heart problems, breathing and insomnia. Rehabilitation takes place in a day ward. Who can use it and how?
- The Ministry of Health informed that rehabilitation for patients after COVID-19 will be launched from next week. It can be used by people who are still feeling the effects of the disease
- Rehabilitation in the salt mine in Wieliczka covers recoveries after COVID-19, including people suffering from chronic respiratory diseases
- Rehabilitation conducted as a day ward can be used under the National Health Fund
- The unusual microclimate in the underground salt chambers promotes better breathing
- You can find more up-to-date information on the TvoiLokony home page
Rehabilitation in the mine only with a referral from a specialist
The “Wieliczka” Salt Mine Health Resort has been operating for many years and deals with the rehabilitation of patients after severe lower respiratory tract diseases, with complications after influenza or bacterial infections, often with numerous comorbidities. His program now also targets recoveries from COVID-19, including those with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbated by infection.
The mine conducts pulmonary rehabilitation as a day ward, which means that patients come for 2,5-hour sessions and then return home. The meetings are held from Monday to Friday.
– Each person is treated very individually. At the time of admission, the patient’s health condition is verified, his physical capacity and exercise capacity are assessed. When developing a treatment plan, we take into account coexisting diseases – says Katarzyna Rys, the director of the health resort.
The therapy can be used under the National Health Fund or for a fee. At the moment, the sanatorium accepts all comers. However, to qualify, you need a referral from a pulmonology, allergology, ENT or rehabilitation clinic or from a specialist hospital ward. Therefore, people after COVID-19 who are treated for chronic diseases and want to benefit from rehabilitation must obtain a referral from a family doctor to a specialist.
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Classes are conducted by professional physiotherapists. These are endurance, strength, breathing, balance, coordination and stretching exercises. In addition to physiotherapists, doctors and nurses constantly look after patients. And all this in a unique microclimate of underground salt rooms.
The underground microclimate promotes recovery
– When we exercise intensively, we breathe through our mouths, not our nose, which is our natural filter. No air purifier will provide such air as we have underground – says allergist Dr. Anna Pełkowska, deputy medical director of the Wieliczka Salt Mine Health Resort.
Andrzej Garycki, who suffered from coronavirus infection at the turn of November and December, struggled with insomnia and fatigue after hospitalization. “I was very weak, I had trouble breathing, which was shallow,” he says.
Encouraged by his friends, he decided to undergo rehabilitation in Wieliczka. – The temperature in the underground chamber is constant, and clean air is very conducive to improving breathing. The exercises proposed by physiotherapists are amazing. This climate made me regain a good night’s sleep after just a few days – adds Andrzej Garycki. – The lecturers also build mental efficiency and restore self-confidence. Now I feel like I was before COVID-19.
So far, a dozen or so patients after COVID-19 who have had breathing problems have benefited from rehabilitation stays.
The management of the Wieliczka Salt Mine company, which is responsible for the health resort, asked the Minister of Health to simplify the procedure. If Minister Niedzielski agrees, rehabilitation referrals will also be issued by GPs, thanks to which the convalescents will skip the lines to the specialists and receive help more quickly.
See also:
- What to do when you notice the first symptoms of coronavirus? [WE EXPLAIN]
- How to protect yourself from the more contagious British mutation? Important expert advice
- Lockdown for Easter. How to safely spend Christmas at home?
- How does our body fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus? Why are some people immune to them?
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