•    Research by former IVF doctor shows a pregnancy success rate of more than 30% in patients treated using the Romanian mud.
•    Dr. Vasilescu George has pioneered the fertility treatments and research into them over the last six years for Ensana – a group of specialist health spas that fuse professional medicine with local natural resources like thermal waters and muds.
•    The all-natural treatments use the healing mud and water from Bear Lake in Sovata, Romania, which is Europe’s largest naturally-warm lake known as the “Transylvanian Dead Sea”. 
•    The treatments involve both external and internal treatments for women including bathing in the unique waters and applying a natural tampon made with mud from the lake.
•    Bear Lake contains naturally occurring human-like Estrogen and Progesterone hormones, as well as high amounts of salts, minerals and organic substances. These enhance the female reproductive system and boost fertility. 
•    Romanian patients have been coming to Sovata for almost a century to benefit from the anecdotal fertility-enhancing properties of the lake, but this is the first time the naturally-occurring fertility benefits have been documented in detail. 
•    Treatment and accommodation over the course of 10 days in Sovata cost just 800 EUR – a fraction of the cost of more mainstream treatments. 

Research by the gynecologist for Sovata Ensana Health Spa Hotel suggests fertility treatments for women, made using natural healing mud and waters from a warm lake in Transylvania, Romania, could be helping as many as 1 in 3 women treated, to conceive. Dr. Vasilescu George, who is a former IVF doctor, has tracked data over a six-year period between May 2013 – November 2019, Dr George has treated 1904 patients for infertility issues, and 508 (30.9%) of them have conceived as a direct result of the treatment.

Dr Vasilescu George, senior gynecology physician and fertility specialist at Sovata Ensana Health Spa Hotel says: “The fertile properties of Bear Lake have been rumoured for decades here, but until now, no one has been able to prove them. We’re only at the beginning of our research, but we are enormously encouraged by what we have found and we believe that our treatments offer a credible, affordable and natural alternative for women seeking fertility treatment.”

The treatments offered by Dr. Vasilescu, who studied infertility treatments both in France and the USA, fuse expert medical knowledge with a deep understanding of the unique, natural and historic healing properties of this five hectare wide, 18 metre deep lake.

In 2011, tests on the mud and waters from Bear Lake analysed by a lab in Budapest revealed that it contained human-like Estrogen and Progesterone hormones, which are critical in fertility treatment because they modulate the female reproductive system. Subsequent blood tests on patients treated using the lake’s natural resources revealed a correlating increase not only in their Estrogen and Progesterone levels, but also in their levels of FSH – the human egg growth hormone They also revaled an anti inflammatory effect on female reproductive organs, which is especially beneficial for women with fertility issues linked to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.

Tests have also revealed that the high salt levels of the lake’s water, which is also used to treat fertility issues alongside the mud, have an anti-inflammatory effect - enlarging fallopian tubes, removing adhesions, increasing immunity – all of which have been confirmed using ultrasound. 

All patients who visit the team at Sovata Ensana Health Spa Hotel in Sovata first have a consultation with a qualified doctor before being prescribed a course of treatment. Typically, patients are encouraged to stay for 10 days where they will experience a range of treatments including vaginal mud tampons, salt water vaginal irrigation (using highly concentrated salt water from Bear Lake), salt water baths, external mud packs and massage.

“Mud tampons” are key to the treatment. The mud taken from Bear Lake is mixed and heated in a special device in order to obtain a sterile cream, then a small amount is inserted and shaped into a small cotton bag. This ‘mud tampon’ is then introduced into the vagina and it ensures a slow, gradual release of the mud in contact with the walls of the vagina. 

With the trend for natural health treatments becoming more and more popular around the world, Ensana is beginning to see a surge in interest for this minimally invasive treatment without any direct advertising. The treatment is also starting to gain traction outside of Romania.

Bear Lake (Lacul Ursu) so-named because of its shape, was created in the second half of the 19th century when a sinkhole collapsed. Millions of years before it was a lagoon in which salt water washed in from the sea. It is characterized by layers of warm salt water which trap and store the heat of the sun. In the summer the temperature on the surface of the lake is between 20-25 degrees centigrade and 35-40 degrees centigrade at a depth of 2 metres. Also nicknamed the “Transylvanian Dead Sea”, those who bath in it naturally float on the surface, due to the high sodium (salt) content.