Giving arthritis the water treatment

Thalassotherapy involves the use of sea water and materials with marine associations (seaweed, mud and sand) for therapeutic and relaxational purposes, and claims to have had success in the treatment of arthritis, asthma, and even infertility. While most health farms and beauty salons offer seaweed wraps to tone and detoxify the skin and 'shrink' fat, thalasso brings all the treatments together.

The thalasso pool is filled with sea water and a range of underwater jets produce bubbles and waves. Bathers will go for a 20-minute 'sea dip' and powerful jets of sea water will pummell buttocks, arms and thighs in turn.

The final five minutes are spent lying on a shallow 'bubble bed' - the water bubbles from underneath you - to stimulate circulation and to aid relaxation after the buffeting.

The next stage is usually a seaweed wrap, filled with vitamins, minerals, natural trace elements, amino acids and enzymes.

Seaweed species vary widely in their mineral content, and their action. Bladderwrack, for example, found along the English Channel and Atlantic Ocean, is said to be softening, anti-inflammatory and detoxifying. Wakame, a Japanese sea plant, is rich in salts said to stimulate skin circulation.