Hydrotherapy: A Nice, Hot Bath
Water has been a part of healing practices from ancient times and great healing
powers have been attributed to it as seen in phrases like “healing waters” and the
“fountain of youth.” The Romans built bathhouses throughout their empire. Saunas
have been popular in Scandinavian countries for many years and have risen in pop-
ularity in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century. In Europe and the
United States, people go to spas that have been built around the mineral waters of
natural hot springs for periods of rest and rejuvenation. Today, hydrotherapy, or
water-based therapy, is used to treat wounds, injuries, and burns, to promote physi-
cal rehabilitation, and to manage stress
The use of water as a healing treatment is known as hydrotherapy. Nurses, chiro-
practors, physical therapists, naturopaths, massage therapists, yoga masters, and
conventional physicians incorporate various forms of hydrotherapy in their profes-
sional practice. Programs of study in each discipline cover the use of hydrotherapy
techniques that are appropriate for the particular professional practice.
Hydrotherapy, the use of hot and cold moisture in the form of solid, liquid, or gas,
makes use of the body’s response to heat and cold. The primary effect of both heat
and cold is stimulation. The secondary effects of heat are drowsiness, sedation, and
relaxed muscles. Heat also dilates blood vessels, increasing the circulation to the
area being heated. The secondary effects of cold are invigoration and restoration.
Cold constricts blood vessels, reducing circulation to that area of the body.
Hydrotherapy is used to decrease pain, decrease fever, reduce swelling, lessen
cramps, induce sleep, and improve physical and mental tone. It must be used with
great care in the young and the old who have poor heat regulation and also with
people experiencing a prolonged illness or fatigue.
Three basic types of hydrotherapy are compresses, bathing, and sweat baths. The
general use of compresses involves towels wrung out in hot and cold water and alter-
nately applied to the body. The intense fluctuations in temperature are believed to
improve the circulation to the stomach, liver, kidneys, and intestines, thereby
improving digestion and the elimination of metabolic wastes. Other examples of
compresses include ice packs to reduce the swelling of sprained ankles and hot water
packs for muscle pain.
Baths, as a form of hydrotherapy, involve local baths such as a foot, sitz, and full
immersion baths. They may be hot or cold or alternating. Hot water, and the sub-
stances sometimes added to the water, increase blood flow to the skin, open pores,
and increase sweating, all of which lead to a faster release of toxins. Warm water
is often used to irrigate and cleanse wounds. Full immersion baths are used for296 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TOALTERNATIVE MEDICINE