In Naftalan, Azerbaijan, a few hours from Baku, people use an unusual alternative cure-all medicine; crude oil baths. In the Caucasus, this alternative remedy is said to treat up to 72 different ailments. Cure-all medicines can be pretty weird, but a bath in crude oil was a particularly strange alternative treatment.
Why do people bathe in crude oil in Azerbaijan? What makes Naftalan oil special? Are Azerbaijabn's crude oil baths harmful? And what other alternative medical therapies are hidden in the Azerbaijani countryside?
Azerbaijan has a close relationship with oil and natural gas, and that goes for Azerbaijan’s culture and economy. There’s so much that it spews from the countryside; I once cycled past a puddle of water that was on fire, and Yanar Dag, a mountainside near Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, has been burning since the 1950s. So it's not surprising that Azerbaijan has earned a nickname, the “Land of Fire”.
On my way to Baku, I cycled through an empty, flat desert. Aside from the looming portraits of Hyder Aliyev, the former president, the nodding donkeys pumping oil were often the only things that stood out. But I'd heard that there was a small town called Naftalan where people bathed in crude oil, and had to see it for myself.
Naftalan, or Naphtalan, is a form of crude oil found only in Azerbaijan. According to Azerbaijani folklore, Naftalan’s medicinal properties were discovered by travellers; when they passed through Naftalan (the region has the same name as the oil), they left an injured camel behind. When they came back, they found that same camel had miraculously healed after taking a dip in a pool of the oil.
People travel to Azerbaijan from all over the world for Naftalan oil treatments, but most come from the caucasus and other ex-soviet countries. I stayed at one of many Naftalan spas, which offer oil therapies lasting anything from one afternoon to a couple of weeks.
What are some supposed oil bathing benefits? The clinic had several doctors, who told me that Naftalan oil can cure up to 72 different conditions, from fertility problems to eczema. They even told of people who’d left their crutches behind after bathing in the oil, since they didn’t need them any more (which seemed like a bit of a red flag to me).
I also accompanied Vlad around two Naftalan spas. He’d travelled from Murmansk, Russia, to bathe here and was hoping the Naftalan treatment would be good for his bones and skin. He also took me to a neighbouring clinic to witness his stretching therapy on what looked like a modern version of a medieval stretching rack. Despite how uncomfortable it looked he seemed surprisingly relaxed.
What is the Naftalan oil bathing process? You have your heart checked by a cardiologist to make sure you’re healthy enough for the treatment. If given the all clear, you head to a facility where a bathtub of oil is waiting for you. You’ll strip off, and bathe for no longer than 10 minutes, before an assistant will scrape the Naftalan oil from your body. The oil is reused for 3 months before being sent back to S.O.C.A.R., the state-run oil company, so as much of it needs to be preserved as possible. Afterwards, you’re not allowed to let your skin get cold for 24 hours, otherwise you risk unspecified “damage” to your body. If you’re staying for multiple days, you’ll repeat this process each day that you’re at the spa.
Is bathing in crude oil bad for you? Despite what Naftalan’s doctors claimed, some research suggests the oil is carcinogenic, meaning it increases your risk of developing cancer.
I left Naftalan feeling conflicted; while bathing in crude oil was an experience I'll never forget, it seemed that some clinics may be taking advantage of people’s lack of scientific knowledge. The crude oil baths were advertised as a treatment or remedy - and in some cases a "miracle cure all" - rather than an attraction. Similar to other homeopathic treatments, without any evidence to support the bold claims I'd heard during my stay, it reeked of pseudoscience. As someone who has always steered clear of homeopathy and other "alternative remedies" in general, I couldn't shake the feeling that people were travelling to spend a fortune on treatments that didn't work.
But the patients I met were in good spirits and, to them, the treatment made a difference. If it works in that sense, then who am I to judge those that take the decision to travel hundreds, or sometimes thousands, of miles to take a dip in black gold?
00:00-00:23 - PREVIEW - Azerbaijan's Crude Oil Baths
00:23-00:59 - Arriving in Naftalan
00:59-03:41 - Azerbaijan: the Land of Fire
03:42-08:33 - Naftalan's Oil Baths
08:34-10:56 - Vlad's Stretching Rack
10:56-13:09 - Ethics: Do Crude Oil Baths Work and are they Safe?
Article here: tieranmeetstheworld.com/nafta...
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