In Vitebsk, the body is rejuvenated using a therapeutic hyperbaric chamber

Barotherapy is increasingly used in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases.

Alla Nikolaeva, Head of the Department of Hypobaric Therapy and Baroclimatic Adaptation at Vitebsk City Clinical Hospital No. 1, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Rehabilitation of VGMU, can talk for hours about her treatment method. The vacuum installation "Ural-Antares" appeared here in 1998 and has been serving people reliably ever since. There are two more analogues in the former USSR – in Balashikha near Moscow and in Orenburg. The barochamber (by the way, it is a product of the Soviet military-industrial complex) weighs a whole 16 tons, so it is indestructible. The main thing is to maintain the vacuum pumps of the installation in working condition, which is done by experienced engineers and technicians from among former aviators. They ensure a smooth "take-off" to an altitude of 3.5 kilometers (which is the middle of Elbrus) and an equally comfortable "landing", so the maximum of 15 people inside the barochamber feel nothing special, except, perhaps, ear popping, as happens during a plane flight. The procedure lasts one and a half hours, the course of treatment is 20 sessions, no more often than once every six months. Patients in comfortable chairs of this "airplane" that has never left the ground can read, watch TV, listen to music, or even sleep, relaxing and tuning in to healing.

Alla Gennadievna, who also defended her candidate dissertation on the use of barotherapy in the treatment of biliary tract dysfunction, explains the basics of the method:

— When we climb mountains, there is less oxygen in the air, and the body is forced to work differently in hypoxic conditions. This activates all of a person's adaptive capabilities. The body fights the disease during the period of exacerbation. On its own, without synthetic drugs with their inevitable side effects. And if there is an exacerbation, it means there will be recovery.

Today, there are many indications for the use of this method. It once began with the treatment of bronchopulmonary pathologies and asthma. Currently, the list includes arterial hypertension, all progressive allergological pathologies, and skin diseases such as psoriasis and neurodermatitis. Depressive states, nervous tics, and obliterating atherosclerosis of the lower limb vessels are also within our scope. In recent years, barotherapy has been widely used for the treatment of children, with the age limit reduced from 3 years to 6 months. This includes frequently ill children with weakened immunity, and even those with cerebral palsy, to relieve spastic tension throughout the body. Obstructive syndromes are becoming more common, so doctors, together with medical scientists, are seeking new treatment approaches. In gynecology, the hyperbaric chamber is used during women's post-menopause and in the treatment of infertility to stabilize the hormonal background. The latest trend in barotherapy is its use for organism rejuvenation.

Under contract with the sports medicine dispensary, athletes enhance their endurance and stabilize their psyche here – for example, so that a shooter's hand does not tremble at the start. Six programs have been developed for them depending on the goal. And the list of possibilities is constantly expanding.

The main thing is that contraindications are very few. Barotherapy is not suitable for those who are afraid of confined spaces (although the metal cocoon of the chamber is equipped with windows), who have had a eardrum injury, suffer from leg edema, or are elderly. For these categories, people over 60, the hospitable hostesses of the department, Alla Nikolaeva, and the head nurse, Tamara Dolzhenko, will offer to achieve almost the same effect outside the chamber – through the "Mountain Air" apparatus.

Of course, it cannot be said that this is a panacea for all ills and that miraculous healings happen here almost every day. But those who have tried barotherapy feel an improvement in their health, without rejecting complex therapy. Even drug treatment combined with sessions in the chamber yields different results. The effect needs to be maintained from time to time. Many patients, having just finished a course, immediately sign up for the next one. Pediatricians, having analyzed the sick leave certificates of previously frequently ill patients, note significant progress after barotherapy.

The availability of such a unique polyclinic treatment method allows Hospital No. 1 of therapeutic profile (on Kommunisticheskaya Street) to stand out from others and, as far as possible, to earn extra-budgetary funds. Barotherapy is provided free of charge here for children under 3 years old, with cerebral palsy, people suffering from bronchial asthma, and those with iron-deficiency anemia. Sometimes, as noted by the chief physician of the clinic Dmitry Kozlovsky, patients even come from other regions, with referrals issued by the RSC "Mother and Child". This is the only department in the republic with such capabilities, where protocols for treatment were developed independently, in conjunction with the medical university, and are successfully followed.

Vera Murashkina. Photos by Oleg Klimovich. "Vitbichi".