Balneotherapy for Muscle Pain

This spa-like treatment may be just what you need for sore muscles.

- MADELEINE HAASE

An emerging trend in muscle pain treatment, balneotherapy uses hot mineralized water to provide relief from chronic conditions or post-workout soreness. Here, Marcus Coplin, N.D., the medical director at The Springs Resort in Pagosa Springs, CO, and director of hydrothermal medicine for the Balneology Association of North America, explains how.

What is balneotherapy? 

It's the use of mineral water therapeutically. If you're soaking in it, drinking it, breathing in the steam, or spreading mineral water muds on your body, that's balneotherapy.

OK, what makes the water special?