Crete

Nowadays, many illnesses are caused by psychological causes, such as stress, intense everyday life, modern demands, human relations, the lack of social cohesion, lack of close friend and family bonds and so forth.

The climate, the nature, the sea, walking, adventure, sports, asceticism, historical and cultural heritage, discovery, wellness, cruises, nutrition, participation, the change of environment are all contributing to the mental health. Crete is an ideal destination that combines all of the above.

Moreover, patients who could not go on a trip to another city or another country than the one covering them medically until now, can now enjoy all the benefits that Crete provides, while using the medical services that are offered throughout the island.

Also, the climate of Crete is characterized by sunshine with many refreshing qualities, contributing to the fact that Greek thalassotherapy and spa facilities offered by luxury hotels are among the best in the world. This makes the island an ideal destination for spa hotels, wellness spa hotels, healing and medical tourism generally.

Medical structures

Advanced research and contemporary medical and healing center, located throughout the island, offer daily medical treatment to people with health problems, aiming to prevent, diagnose, treat and maintain health.

In all big cities of Crete, especially in Heraklion, many hospitals and clinics meet the needs of all the islands of southern Greece. Moreover, in every town of the island, there are health centers and community clinics that cover the basic needs of health care.

The existence of appropriate medical structures, the availability of specialized medical and healthcare professionals, the hosting structures for patients and their families (hotels with high standard amenities) as well as the competitive cost of the medical and healthcare services offered, compared to the other countries of the West, make Crete a rapidly developing destination for health travelers.

Medical tourism

In Chania and Heraklion, modern centers of artificial insemination can offer their services to visitors from abroad. The existing legislation of Greece for the assisted reproduction for couples and single mothers is more favorable in Greece, compared to other countries.

Moreover, there are modern centers of physical and psychological rehabilitation, as well as Mental Health Centers, in which patients from all over the world can enjoy high standard services.

In big cities, there are public dialysis units, as well as private clinics, offering the chance to Greeks and foreign nefropathics to go on vacation away from home, without jeopardizing their life. Green gardens with pools and perfectly equipped places for dialysis that remind of luxury homes rather than clinics can provide a pleasant and civilized environment for patients who can also enjoy their holidays in Crete.

In addition, Crete has a huge tradition in invasive methods of correcting ophthalmologic conditions. Hundreds of people from all over Greece and Europe come to Heraklion in order to eliminate conditions such as myopia, astigmatism, hypermetroria and much more. The ophthalmological centers of Crete, in collaboration with the medical faculties of the island and Greece, offer visitors the chance to see life from another ankle.

Dental tourism

Over the last few years, the number of visitors seeking dental care has been increased throughout the island, trying to combine their vacations at the resorts of Crete with the high quality diagnostic and medical services.

The main reason is that Greek dentists offer dental services up to 80% cheaper than those provided in private clinics in Europe, maintaining the same high quality materials and equipment at the same time.

The visitors must be aware that Greek dentists are trained excellently, while constantly following and contributing to the evolutions of dental science in an organized and certified manner.

Paramedical services

In Crete, high standard services are offered in all the fields of paramedical professions, aiming to provide services such as chiropractic, physiotherapy, acupuncture, speech therapy and dietetics.

The Cretan centers working on paramedical sciences constantly upgrade the knowledge of their qualified staff, aiming at establishing their presence in the local community, as well as becoming popular to the visitors from all over Greece and Europe.

Experienced and well trained speech therapists mainly in the big cities of the island help children with speech problems throughout the country. With innovational techniques, children can be helped and fully join their social and educational environment.
Crete also has a great tradition in services of physiotherapy and acupuncture. Experienced chiropractics help the rehabilitation of movement dysfunctions while scientifically trained acupuncturists help the patients feel better based on modern techniques.

Revitalization

In Crete anyone can enjoy the magic of a refreshing spa and massage in specialized relaxing points. From relaxing and detoxicating the body to refreshing and slimming, the innovational treatments offered can help achieve each goal.

Many of those facilities have been awarded for the high level of their services. Almost all 5-star hotels offer spa treatments by experienced chiropractics and the use of the latest technology.

From the ancient holistic rituals to the modern care of the skin, every treatment promises the absolute relaxation of body and mind. The visitor of the island can choose among a wide variety of treatments and reflexology massages for an amazing experience of relaxation and revitalization.

Thalassotherapy

Hippocrates, the father of medicine was the first to discover the healing qualities of sea water by observing its healing effect on the wounded hands of the fishermen. Based on the fact that seawater helps wounds not to be contaminated, he urged his patients to follow treatments using seawater to relief pain. Today, it is world-wide acknowledged that thalassotherapy is an efficient method of treatment which refreshes the cells, using hot seawater.

Most luxury hotels of Crete have established modern thalassotherapy and spa centers, all perfectly equipped and manned with well trained staff. Those centers have hydromassage facilities in heated pools using sea water, as well as aromatherapy and sea plant treatment. Thalassotherapy is based on the correct use of the beneficial components of seawater and sea plants.

The number of thalassotherapy and spa centers is increased day by day, mostly in luxury hotels and hotel resorts; thus, a big number of luxury spa hotels and wellness spa hotels offer a variety of beauty treatments, well-being and sport including thalassotherapy.

In most centers, the programs consist of a combination of seawater, sea plants and mud, aiming to provide the human body with all the beneficial components of the sea.

Moreover, it benefits many more fields like relaxation, stress control, muscles toning skin revitalization and body weight control. What is also important is that it aims to improve health, when combined with a healthy nutrition.

Scientifically certified staff and innovational techniques offer relaxation, relief from muscle pain, improvement of bodily health as well as improvement of mood, with the use of modern equipment.

Herbal Treatment

Crete has always been the heaven of herbs. The air, the sun and the sea help plants be healthy and carry large amounts of essential oils.

Herbs are found all over the mountains, the cultivated land and the coastal areas and many of them are known for their healing properties.

The island has one of the richest and most interesting ecosystems of Europe, with a large number of native aromatic plants. Most famous are malotira and dittany, which are known for their antiseptic properties since the ancient times.

The visitor can find many shops selling herbs and be familiar with the herbs that are advisable for his illness, the strengthening of his health and the improvement his mood.

Many tours and seminars on herbs are organized on the mountains of Crete. In addition,
the cultivation of Aloe vera has recently been established on the island and many companies work on the production of cosmetics and pharmaceutical products based on it.

Aromatherapy

Crete has a variety of herbs which are used in aromatherapy; aromatherapy uses essential oils in order to treat or relieve of illnesses. Essential oils, mixed with other substances are placed on the skin, inhaled or sprayed in the air.
Aromatherapy helps people relax and relieves stress. It has been used in order to cope with conditions such as burns, infections, depression, insomnia and high blood pressure.

The visitors of Crete can take part in any of the seminars on aromatherapy that takes place on the island and be refreshed in one of the aromatherapy centers.

Cretan Nutrition

Cretan nutrition has positively surprised scientists from all over the world, as the results of all the surveys show its benefits on the health of the Cretans and the low levels of illnesses, compared to the other parts of the planet.

With its unique biodiversity and the special climate, Crete is a place that helps the growth of many herbs and wild plants; what’s more, stock-breeding is also favoured on the island and its wide variety of by-products have been part of the Cretan nutrition through the centuries. All these factors have made Cretan nutrition the healthiest one among all other Mediterranean diets.
So, the Cretan nutrition is now the base of the“Mediterranean Nutrition”, a term that characterizes nutrition based mostly on olive oil, a multitude of vegetables, and on the reduced consumption of meat.

Visitors can take part in seminars on Cretan gastronomy and be acquainted with the ideal patterns of a balanced diet, as well as with the improvement of health and longevity.

Meditation

Meditation is a timeless widespread art of the spirit, a method of spiritual concentration that it is succeeded through deep relaxation and the isolation from all thoughts and outer stimulation.
Meditation aims at acquiring knowledge or experience without using the human sense organs or any other source of information.

Holidays in Crete are ideal to feel the relaxation and the wellness that meditation offers. The visitor of the island can visit some of the most world known centers of meditation located in the most atmospheric and mysterious places of the island, such as the sand hills of Agios Pavlos in Rethymnon and Paliochora.

Yoga

Yoga is an ancient method of exercise and mental balance, which fits perfectly with the purity and balance of the Cretan landscape. Many world-known yogis have given up the urban centers of Europe in order to do what they love in Crete.

There are many different forms of yoga, like Hatha Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, Karma Yoga, while it can be also combined with modern dance, like capoeira.

Visitors can take part in some of the many seminars of Yoga that take place in Sfakia, Paliochora in Chania, Agios Pavlos in Rethymnon, Sitia, Agios Nikolaos and Heraklion.

Reiki

Reiki is a very old healing spiritual practice from Japan with beneficial effects on health, physical well-being, relaxation, mental tranquility and general mood. It constitutes an alternative technique for transferring universal energy (i.e., reiki) through the palms, which they believe allows for self-healing, relieving pain, alleviating stress and reaching a state of mental equilibrium.

In recent years, this energy therapy has been practiced and taught in Crete by experienced instructors of Reiki. Anyone that wishes to get introduced to the world of reiki, will surely find the suitable people all over the island who will be able to bring him in contact with this spiritual system.