Cuprins
Gynecologist: update on thermal cures
Hydrotherapy also helps to alleviate gynecological problems such as endometriosis, vaginal dryness or even yeast infections. A few stations are now specialized in France.
Spa treatment, after trying everything
This scar may be the most invisible of all, but it is sometimes the most haunting. On her episiotomy, Nelly, 27, could almost have written a novel. “I gave birth in October 2007 without major difficulties,” says the young woman. I had specified that I did not want toepiziotomie. I was still entitled to it and, in addition, the midwife could not sew me. After that I was in constant pain. It tugged at me. My gynecologist told me that the scar was inflamed. Nelly tries the eggs and creams, without success. She tries homeopathy and acupuncture. Failure. In six months, the young mother has exhausted the possible medical arsenal for this indication. “And then my gynecologist told me about the spa treatment, even if she seemed to believe more in her eggs. I went there in desperation. »Nelly is fortunate to live ten minutes from the thermal center of Challes-les-Eaux (Savoie). For a month, every morning, she goes there for a series of sprays and vaginal douches based on one of the most sulfur waters in Europe. Nothing very glamorous but the result is quickly there. “When I arrived, the doctor noticed that the scar was very itchy, he couldn’t even put a speculum. After a week, I already had no more pain. After a month, I was totally healed. I wish they had told me about it sooner! “
Thermal cures, very effective against chronic ailments
Very few gynecologists, general practitioners or midwives know that thermal cures (or crenotherapy) can be prescribed for period pain, endometriosis or recurrent mycosis. This type of prescription only represents 0,4% of the therapeutic orientations of hydrotherapy. However, when they are prescribed, these cures lasting three weeks are fully or almost entirely covered by Social Security. Three stations focused their care on gynecology : Luxeuil-les-Bains (Haute-Saône), Salies-de-Béarn (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and Salies-du-Salat (Haute-Garonne). About ten other centers, notably Challes-les-Eaux, have made it a secondary orientation. Are these treatments effective? There are few large, reliable studies. Nevertheless, a recent report from the Academy of Medicine underlines that “ferruginous waters specifically improve chronic gynecological inflammatory conditions”. Another study * specifies that crenotherapy “is a excellent method if combined with other therapeutic means ; it can be a remarkable adjuvant in the treatment of chronic pathologies. ”
Dr Chamiot-Maitral, gynecologist, works at the Challes-les-Eaux resort. At first doubtful, she had to review her judgment. “I didn’t know what I was getting into. And I quickly saw that the results for patients with recurrent yeast infection were excellent. I saw young exhausted women arrive, who had tried everything and no longer even treated themselves. The cure generally offers them a respite of one year and we advise to renew it twice. The results are also very good for endometriosis and painful episiotomy scars. “Professor Denis Gallot, obstetrician gynecologist at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital, would rather be in favor of” if it does not do good, it does not hurt anyway. For patients trapped in a circle of pain, who have seen twenty-five different doctors, a cure has real virtues. “
Spa treatments and AMP: results that do not make consensus
With the marked increase in medically assisted procreation, another indication of hydrotherapy is increasingly appearing: the fight against infertility. Again, no study has scientifically demonstrated the benefits of thermal waters on ovulation or on the quality of cervical mucus. The Prescrire magazine was even harsh: “The prescription of a spa treatment for sterility is an unacceptable hoax. ”
Obviously, it happens that pregnancies occur after cures. Dr Chamiot-Maitral has the honesty to ask himself: “Is this really the cure? I do not know. What I notice is that these patients often complain of persistent vaginal dryness, and after a week of treatment, they notice an increase in cervical mucus. Elisabeth, 34, experienced it. “Due to endometriosis, I had to go through IVF. After four failures, I inquired about the spa treatment. We spoke to the doctor who agreed to prescribe it for us. Already, morally, it did me a lot of good. It was a safe place, I was cocooned. And I immediately felt the difference in the mucosa which was more lubricated. Well that changes everything! Physical intercourse, which had become torture, became pleasant again. This is important when trying to conceive a child! I was less tied, I no longer had a stomach ache. I rested and recovered morally. I don’t have a baby yet, it’s only been a few weeks, but for me it’s already huge. Women in the midst of AMP know that in this area there is no 100% guaranteed miracle cure. They generally take thermal cures for what they are: a way of putting the odds in their favor. Whatever the problem to be treated, most patients take advantage of their vacation to benefit from this care, swapping sunbathing for a summer for vaginal irrigations. It is certain, formulated thus, it does not make dream! But the women concerned willingly consent to this small sacrifice, too happy to be able, finally, to be reconciled with the heart of their femininity.
* “Crenotherapy and gynecology”, by MA Bruhaut, R. Fabry, S. Stamburro, Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital.
Spa treatments: very technical treatments
For three weeks, the patient undergoing a gynecological treatment will receive completely painless but rather invasive and intimate care. Every morning, in the gynecological position, the curist undergoes in turn, or at choice, the dusuri vaginale, spray-uri, irrigations, columnisation (introduction behind the vagina of a sterile compress soaked in mineral water and maintained for twelve hours). The goal may be to reach the cervix with mineral water sprays, to decongest the entire pelvic system, to promote healing of the perineum, to relieve inflammation of the uterine lining. Depending on the indications, you have to find the right water (thermal waters have different anti-inflammatory, healing, draining, decongestant properties…) and therefore the right center. Whatever center you choose, the setting is generally pleasant, with an aesthetic from the 1930s. The nursing staff, often made up of moașe, is competent and attentive, patients can meet over coffee while awaiting their next treatment, taking advantage of this friendly gynoecium to express what they will not say to a companion.