Hydrotherapy

Hydrotherapy is the use of water, both internally and externally and at varying temperatures, for health purposes. Also known as water therapy or "water cures," hydrotherapy includes such therapeutic treatments as saunas, steam baths, foot baths, contrast therapy, sitz baths, and colonic cleansing.

Although some forms of hydrotherapy are commonly used in traditional medical practices, there are some hydrotherapy procedures that are not supported by science and border on pseudoscience.

History of Hydrotherapy

From Roman baths to hot mineral springs, cultures around the world have used water for centuries to treat a variety of health concerns.

Father Sebastian Kneipp,  a 19th-century Bavarian monk, is widely regarded as the father of modern hydrotherapy. Kneipp's use of alternating hot and cold water, called contrast hydrotherapy, is still used today.

During the same period, Vincent Preissnitz  founded the first hydrotherapy clinic in Gräfenberg, Germany as part of a larger naturalism movement, which involved eating only coarse foods and copious amounts of water.

Soon after, hydrotherapy and the naturalism craze spread to the United States, where John Harvey Kellogg of Kellogg's cereal fame aimed to scientifically prove its benefits at Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. Kellogg had a special fascination with colonic cleansing.

Hydrotherapy is popular in Europe, Asia, and parts of the United States (including Saratoga Springs in New York where Franklin Delana Roosevelt often frequented), where people regularly "take the waters" at hot mineral springs.

Principles:  According to proponents of hydrotherapy, hot and cold water induce physiologic changes that are beneficial to human health. Among them:

Hot water causes superficial blood vessels to dilate, activating sweat glands, loosening joints, and removing toxic wastes from tissues.

Cold water causes superficial blood vessels to constrict, moving blood flow away from an affected area to relieve inflammation.

Immersing the body in water is said to relieve joint pain and muscle injury by counteracting gravity and reducing pressure on a joint or the body as a whole.

There are different appliances used to deliver hydrotherapy, including full-body immersion tanks, body-specific tubs, whirlpool baths, and cold and hot water wraps (compresses).

Hydrotherapy is often performed at health centers, spas, and physical therapy clinics and even at home.

Common types of hydrotherapy include:

Aquatic exercises:  Exercising in a pool of warm or cool water allows you to exercise with less resistance and pressure on joints. It can be helpful for people back pain, arthritis, obesity, advanced age, or physical disability.

Balneotherapy: Soaking in mineral-rich waters or natural mineral hot springs are thought to have curative benefits. Known as balneotherapy, the practice is said to treat arthritis, low back pain, immune dysfunction, and fibromyalgia, among others.

Colonic hydrotherapy:  Also known as colonic cleansing or irrigation, the practice involves rinsing feces from the colon, which proponents claim can help clear toxins and improve health.

Compresses:  This form of hydrotherapy involves wrapping towels soaked in warm or cool water on a body part to increase circulation or reduce inflammation. Aromatics are often added to the wraps for various therapeutic purposes.

Contrast hydrotherapy: Also known as water circuit therapy, it involves alternating immersion in hot and cold water to treat chronic pain or promote lymphatic drainage (thereby removing toxins from the immune system).

Floatation tanks: Also known as isolation tanks or immersion tanks, the practice involves floating atop a shallow pool of saltwater in a sealed, darkened tank. Doing so is said to relieve stress and anxiety, improve sleep, and relax muscles.

Foot baths: Soaking your feet can reduce swelling and pain after a long day on one's feet. But, it can also be used to soften tissues before a spa foot treatment. Some people even claim that food baths can balance circulation and decrease congestion in the head, lungs, and pelvic organs.

Hot fomentation: The application of warm compresses or hot water bottles to the chest is said to relieve acute symptoms of a cold or bronchitis.

Ice bath: Popular among athletes, ice baths involve soaking in a tub of water between 45 F and 65 F to speed recovery from an injury or extreme exercise. Also known as cold water immersion, ice baths have increasingly been replaced by cryotherapy, which exposes the body to short bursts of air as cold as -280 F.

Sauna: A sauna is a form of hydrotherapy in which dry, warm air induces sweating to release toxins, burn calories, relax muscles, and improve skin quality.

Sitz bath: A sitz bath involves sitting a tub of water to treat conditions affecting the anal, rectal, or genital areas. Sitz baths are commonly used for hemorrhoids, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and anal fissures.

Steam baths: Steam baths involve rooms filled with warm, humid aid that proponents claim can amplify the benefits of a sauna. Turkish baths are a form of steam bathing that employs higher humidity and lower temperatures.

Therapeutic baths:  Therapeutic baths involve soaking in a tub of warm water to treat skin conditions, joint problems, or emotional stress. Additives are commonly used, including Epsom salt, aromatherapy oils, dead sea salts, and herbs. Mud baths are a form of therapeutic bathing.

Watsu: This is an alternative massage technique (coined from words "water" and "shiatsu") in which a therapist performs massage while you float comfortably in a pool of warm water.

Whirlpool hydrotherapy: Rather than immersing a limb or body in still water, a whirlpool is said to offer additional benefits, including increased circulation and improved tissue repair after a burn, ulcer, or other skin injuries.