Mud bath

Mud bath in Turkey

Bather covered with mud at the Dead Sea

A mud bath is a container or pit of specialized mud that people can bathe in, commonly from areas where hot spring water can combine with volcanic ash. It works by allowing the skin to absorb nutrients such as sulfur while also cooling the body. It has also been used as a method to relieve arthritis, but the practice of mud bathing has been shown to only reduce painful symptoms rather than treat the condition. Many modern spas offer this activity as a form of skin care. Natural mud baths are often formed in lakes, saltwater seas, and hot springs.

In Romania, Lake Techirghiol is commonly used for medicinal mud baths as it is rich in nutrients and salts, illustrated by its recorded salinity levels (83.6 g/L in 1970 and 63.6 g/L in 1980). This particular location's high salinity was created by an instance of tectonic erosion which opened a firth between the lake and the Black Sea. The connection between the two bodies of water later eventually closed and cut off the inflow of sediment. Evaporation of sea water from the basin led to an accumulation of the essential salts and nutrients that make the mud therapeutic.

See also

"Mud bathing site" (according to the sign) on Bulgaria's Lake Atanasovsko

• Balneotherapy
• Bath salts
• Heubad
• Mud wrap
• Peloid
• Wallowing