I just came across a device called “Solnyshko” that is still in use and available for sale in Russia. It commonly appears in memes about the first children’s hookah. A while back, I read about Soviet physiotherapy, which essentially differed from Western practices in that it involved testing all sorts of wild ideas on people without the usual processes required for legitimate medical devices.
So, what exactly is this “Solnyshko”? You can Google it by “OUFnu (UHN-1)”. Inside, there’s a DRT 240 lamp – a high-pressure mercury arc tube lamp used in sterilizers. The 240 in the name stands for 240 nm, which refers to the harsh UV radiation (100-280 nm). The device directs UV-C radiation towards the mucous membrane inside the mouth. The mucous membrane (excluding the eyes), as known, is not protected from UV rays (unlike skin and eyes), and here it is exposed to intense UV-C radiation, which, under normal circumstances without ozone holes, doesn’t even reach the Earth’s surface. Essentially, “treatment” is achieved by burning off the mucous membrane along with bacteria and viruses. Sterilizer radiation simply kills cells and, like any UV-C exposure, is proven to promote the development of cancer.
How did we ever survive all this in childhood 🙂 I just googled and it turns out that the arsenal of children’s health resorts also included UHF-therapy (ultra-high frequency electromagnetic fields), VLOK (intravascular laser blood irradiation), and electrophoresis (this is a type of drug delivery in a non-invasive way — without needles! — directly to the exact spot where it hurts, though it doesn’t work at all, but at least it doesn’t cause harm).
It’s madness overall, and if you search for the Solnyshko irradiator, for instance, you’ll find it in hundreds of places.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 