Uzdrowisko Iwonicz-Zdrój

Iwonicz-Zdrój lies in south-eastern Poland, in the Podkarpackie province, in the Beskid Niski range in the valley of the Iwonicki Potok at 380 to 450 metres above sea level, 80 km from Rzeszów and 16 km from Krosno. The operator, Uzdrowisko Iwonicz S.A., calls itself the continuator of a tradition more than 440 years old and the resort the largest and oldest in the province, and it is plainly bigger than a single bath house: the site lists the Excelsior spa and rehabilitation hospital, the sanatoria “Pod Jodłą”, “Stare Łazienki” and “Biały Orzeł”, Spa Sanatorium no. IV, the Centrum Lecznictwa Uzdrowiskowego, the Pijalnia Wód Mineralnych and the Stary Pałac. The water a visitor can get into without a referral is the indoor pool in the Centrum Lecznictwa Uzdrowiskowego, where the operator writes that it invites everyone who wishes to use recreational swimming and sells tickets for fixed afternoon sessions. Spa treatment itself runs on a different footing — stays financed by the NFZ require a referral, and the company also offers self-paid therapeutic, rehabilitation and holiday stays.

Mineral water

According to the operator the greatest treasure of Iwonicz-Zdrój is its medicinal mineral waters, known and used for centuries. The site states that the Iwonicz medicinal waters belong to the chloride–bicarbonate–sodium, iodide and thermal waters, containing free carbon dioxide, and that they are applied in drinking cures, inhalations and medicinal baths. At the Pijalnia Wód Mineralnych the operator names the individual waters on offer and what each is used for: Elin 7, Karol 2, Klimkówka 27 and Iwonicz II in a cure aimed at the mucous membrane of the digestive system, Karol 2 and Iza 19 for the urinary tract, and Iza 19 for the respiratory tract. The operator adds that the resort's natural raw materials also go into Iwonicz medicinal salt and into the Iwoline cosmetics line, made on a base of the mineral waters and Iwonicz salt, and that the medicinal qualities of the waters here were already described in 1578 by Wojciech Oczko, court physician to King Stefan Batory. The site does not state the origin of the water in the indoor pool, and it describes the medicinal bath as a separate balneological treatment based on natural medicinal waters, with a duration of 15 to 20 minutes or as the doctor indicates, every second day, at a temperature of 36 to 38 °C or again as indicated.

Pools

The indoor pool sits in the Centrum Lecznictwa Uzdrowiskowego, a five-storey building which the operator describes as fully accessible to people with disabilities. The site gives the basin a depth of 1.35 m and dimensions of 11.5 m by 7 m, with a water temperature of 24 to 32 °C. Listed water features are a “typhoon” counter-current that allows swimming on the spot, a four-jet massage, and a tub with hydromassage and pearl massage which the operator calls a jacuzzi. The operator also runs aqua aerobic classes under a qualified instructor and states that taking part does not require being able to swim. The same building houses the Uzdrowiskowy Zakład Przyrodoleczniczy, the Podkarpacki Ośrodek Terapii Solnej, a SPA and Wellness cabinet, Spa Sanatorium no. IV, a café and a hairdresser; the operator states that its treatments are used both by guests staying with the company and by guests from other sanatoria and outpatients.

Sauna and wellness

The operator states that a sauna is in the same building, in the Podkarpacki Ośrodek Terapii Solnej, and describes it as reaching the same calorie-loss effect at a temperature 40 °C lower than a traditional sauna, with regular 30-minute sessions. Alongside it the salt therapy centre lists a therapeutic salt cave, a relaxation salt cave with aromaphytotherapy, a Hydro-Jet dry membrane massage, recondition beds and a solarium. The Centrum SPA offers body peelings, relaxing body massages including bamboo sticks and Chinese cupping, anti-stress facial massages and body care treatments with algae, peat, fruit and mineral mud masks; the operator states that these are based only on high-quality natural products, including cosmetics of its own manufacture.

Treatments

The operator states that the Uzdrowiskowy Zakład Przyrodoleczniczy runs treatments in kinesitherapy, physical therapy, hydrotherapy, balneotherapy, massage and biological renewal. Its treatment list includes a peat bath and peat procedures, a carbon-dioxide bath and a dry carbon-dioxide bath, a medicinal bath, pearl and whirl baths, underwater massage, hydromassage, individual inhalations, gymnastics in the pool and individual and group gymnastics, local cryotherapy and whole-body cryotherapy in a cryosauna, magnetotherapy, laser, ultrasound and a range of electrotherapy procedures. The operator states that thanks to the climate of Iwonicz-Zdrój and waters rich in mineral components, patients can take rehabilitation in orthopaedic and post-traumatic conditions, diseases of the nervous system, rheumatological conditions, diseases of the digestive system, diseases of the upper respiratory tract and osteoporosis. The site states that one of the most modern natural-treatment establishments in Poland was brought into use here at the beginning of the 1980s.

Opening hours

The operator publishes session times for the pool rather than all-day opening: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 16:00–18:30, Tuesday 16:00–17:00, Thursday 16:00–19:30 and Saturday 14:00–16:00, with aqua aerobic on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 18:45. The Podkarpacki Ośrodek Terapii Solnej in the same building keeps different hours, which the site gives as Monday to Friday 09:00–20:00 and Saturday and Sunday 10:00–17:00. According to the operator the historic Pijalnia Wód Mineralnych, in the centre of the resort, also holds a shop with the Iwoline range and an art gallery; the building, originally the peat baths, was rebuilt in 1922 in masonry with its characteristic covered promenade, and its present interior dates from 1998 to a design by Wrzesław Żuławski.