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The back, and the cure
Germans talk about their backs a great deal, and the health system takes them seriously. Rückenschmerzen are among the most common reasons for sick leave, and statutory insurers subsidise Rückenschule — back-care courses teaching posture and strengthening — as preventive medicine, often refunding most of the fee. Gym memberships and yoga classes can be partly reimbursed on the same principle. The most striking institution is the Kur: a multi-week stay at a spa town, prescribed by a doctor and substantially funded, combining physiotherapy, exercise and mineral baths. Hundreds of towns carry the protected prefix Bad — Bad Homburg, Baden-Baden, Bad Kissingen — marking them as official spa resorts, and the industry around them is real rather than quaint. A related habit: Germans distinguish between a cold, a serious cold and Kreislaufprobleme, circulation trouble, which is a recognized complaint here and almost unknown in English-speaking medicine.