The most ideal place to reap the benefits of heliotherapy – the treatment that uses exposure to sunlight in the treatment of certain skin disorders – is naturally Grado. No wonder it’s called Isola del Sole – Island of the Sun! This treatment, which was already known and used by the ancient Romans and Greeks, is indicated to treat certain types of dermatological disorders (psoriasis for example). Exposure to the sun is definitely a natural way to stay healthy.
For those who prefer a quiet place where to sunbathe nude in complete privacy, the beach also offers the Solarium, located next to the Grado seaside spa. In total respect for privacy – and also somewhat of a legacy from Austro-Hungarian culture – the Solarium is divided into two sections, one for men and one for women. Inside there are changing rooms, hot and cold showers with sea water, sun beds and umbrellas for alternating periods of exposure to the sun with rest in the shade.
Heliotherapy
A service characterised by the integral exposure of the client's body to the activity of the sun's rays, which takes place in a specially prepared environment separated from the surrounding sandy shore for the correct and necessary privacy. Nowadays, the therapeutic properties of the sun are supplemented by more in-depth knowledge regarding the side effects that the sun produces when exposure is not done with therapeutic criteria but only as an aesthetic expression (tanning). Already in the time of Pliny the Younger, heliotherapy was regarded as an effective treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis (AD 61- 113), and Oribasius at the same time described in great detail the clinical efficacy of heliosis (sunbathing) treatments in skin diseases. In 1750, an English physician P. Russel wrote about the effective sun cures for scrofulosis in children in London, and at the end of the 19th century, Arnoldo Rickli, a Carinthian founded a veritable doctrine through his treatise on the 'basics of medicine by natural means' where he explained his therapeutic successes with sunbathing for dermatological diseases. The French in the early 20th century followed this 'faith' by establishing the foundations of French thalassotherapy with Malgat Vidal and Revilet.
This service is obtained by adhering to the relevant exposure orientation health charts that are established through personalised assessment of the client's skin type, gender and age. This service is modulated by seawater showers and relaxing massage therapy to amplify the therapeutic response.
The service is not covered by the National Health Service.
DID YOU KNOW THAT… Grado beach gives you a natural tan?
On Grado beach the dusting that is created in the air forms a kind of filter that increases the ability to tan. This occurs thanks to various natural factors, such as the beach’s southern position and the very pure air due to the particular microclimate and the dense vegetation behind the shoreline, which allows the natural division of two different microclimatic zones (the brisk and stimulating marine microclimate and the restful arboreal microclimate).