Hydrotherapy
Water: The All-Natural, All-Purpose Healer
Have you ever iced a sprain? Draped a hot towel over a stiff neck? Soaked away tension in a hot tub? Then you've practiced the ancient healing art known as hydrotherapy.
Using water to help the body heal is a practice that's probably as old as time. Sanskrit writings dating from 4,000 b.c. mention water therapy. In the ancient Greek temples devoted to Asclepius, the god of medicine, water baths were used to treat the sick. And centuries before the Roman baths became a famed tourist attraction, residents of Crete used water therapy extensively.
But as a healing discipline, hydrotherapy was officially born in the early 1800s, when a German farmer named Vincent Preissnitz used cold wet compresses to heal his mangled hand and badly broken ribs.
Inspired by his own remarkable healing response to hydrotherapy, Preissnitz began using it to treat his friends and neighbors. Soon, word of his cures spread beyond his Prussian village, and because of Preissnitz's impressive record of clinical successes, the Crown of the Austro-Hungarian Empire set aside its customary regulations for medical training and permitted him to continue his practice despite the protests among practicing physicians of the time.
Hydrotherapy emigrated to America in 1840 with Robert Wesselhoeft, whom Preissnitz had cured of rheumatic fever. With medical studies under their belts, Wesselhoeft and his brother, William, settled in Vermont. In 1845, they founded the Brattleboro Infirmary, where the likes of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Harriet Beecher Stowe tried water's curative power.
And in 1876, the famed health reformer, John Harvey Kellogg, opened his sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. Kellogg treated his patients with nutrition (he invented cornflakes) and hydrotherapy. Kellogg and his rather eccentric use of hydrotherapy, and other therapies, inspired the zany cinema satire The Road to Wellville.
SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE
"In general, one of the basic cornerstones of naturopathic medicine is hydrotherapy, which is used to trigger the basic healing mechanisms of the body," says Jared Zeff, naturopathic physician, licensed acupuncturist and professor of naturopathic medicine at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon.
Some forms of hydrotherapy improve circulation, according to Dr. Zeff. For many conditions, improving the circulation is key to stimulating the body's healing process. Other illnesses, like common colds, coughs and sinus problems, respond well to steam treatments. When your head or chest is congested, breathing in steam's vapors provides relief because steam shrinks the swollen mucous membranes in your upper respiratory tract and promotes drainage.
Hydrotherapy that uses water in its solid form, ice, can provide potent pain relief in many situations. Ice slows down the ability of your nerves to transmit pain, says Irene von Estorff, M.D., assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at New York HospitalCornell University Medical Center in New York City.
Moist heat hydrotherapy is known for its ability to ease muscle aches and cramps, according to Dr. von Estorff. "Many women rely on a moist hot pack to take care of their monthly cramps or their sore muscles after a stressful day at the office. If a soak in a warm bath feels good in such situations, then by all means do it," she continues. "The soothing effect of lying in a tub full of hot water--but not too hot--has been known for centuries. However, we still have much to learn about the specific changes that occur."
Hydrotherapy may be the easiest alternative therapy to master for at-home use. In fact, you've probably already used hydrotherapy for yourself or your family without even realizing it.
Each form of hydrotherapy--water, ice or steam baths, showers, hot towels, steam treatments or otherwise--creates a different physiological reaction. So how you use hydrotherapy to help you heal will depend on your own needs.
BATHS: HOT, COLD AND JUST RIGHT
You probably don't look at your bathtub and think "home health care device," but that's just what it is: a potentially useful vessel for treating everyday problems like skin irritations, insomnia, muscle spasms and congestion.
The basic therapeutic bath comes in three temperature ranges: cold (55° to 75°F), neutral (92° to 97°F) and hot (105° to 110°F). You can buy a small thermometer to check water temperature at stores that sell hot tubs or in the baby department of stores. But before you take a plunge, read on to see what Letitia Watrous, naturopathic physician in Spokane, Washington, and lecturer at Bastyr University of Naturopathic Medicine in Seattle, recommends for each type of bath.
Cold Baths for Hardy Souls
At a chilly 65°F or below, cold baths can give you a st-st-stimulating boost, to say the least. In Sweden, a plunge into cold water is de rigueur after a hot sauna; the saunacold bath combo is said to induce complete pleasure. Even at a temperature of between 65° and 75°, a bath can serve as a brisk tonic that strengthens circulation and digestion. Stay in the bath for 30 seconds to two minutes. But this chilly treatment isn't for everyone: Don't take a cold bath if you are ill or weak or have heart or digestive problems or high blood pressure without first seeking your physician's advice.
To get the pleasures of the Swedish treatment without the travel: First warm your body for ten minutes, either with a hot shower or bath, or in a hot tub or sauna, if available. Then end the treatment with a brisk cold shower or plunge into a cool swimming pool for up to two minutes, depending on your tolerance. The chilled feeling that you experience will be followed by one of comfort. Hop out of the cold water and rub yourself down energetically with a towel.
Neutral Baths Equal Instant Tranquillity
At body temperature (about 92° to 97°F), neutral baths have been called nature's finest tranquilizer and are perfect for easing your way into a sound sleep. Fill the tub with water so that you're covered to the neck; make sure the room is quiet, dim the lights and use a towel or bath pillow to cradle your head.
Skin irritations can be well-eased in a tepid bath; try adding 2 cups of finely pulverized oatmeal. Other additives, such as Aveeno or 1 or 2 drops of juniper berry oil (available at health food stores), are also soothing. Follow the directions on the label. You can also add 1 to 2 tablespoons of baking soda for a wonderful skin treatment or 1/2 to 1 cup of Epsom salts to relieve sore muscles.
Hot Baths for Pain or Tension
A long soak in a hot tub of water is a time-honored way to ease painful muscle spasms or just relax when you're keyed up.
The water should be between 105° and 110°F, or as hot as your body can comfortably tolerate. Keep a cool wet towel on your forehead to offset the rush of blood from the head.
Stay in a hot bath up to 20 minutes. As the water cools, let some out and replace with hot water to maintain the temperature. Be sure to end the hot bath with a cool shower to prevent fainting.
ICE: NATURE'S MOST EFFECTIVE PAINKILLER?
"Most people are surprised when I tell them to put ice on a muscle spasm," says Dr. von Estoroff. "Many assume that the soothing power of heat is the best way to relax a muscle. But for intense, immediate pain--when you wake up with a painfully stiff neck or suffer an intense muscle spasm, for example--ice is my treatment of choice."
Ice can be more effective than heat for decreasing the pain and swelling that accompany injuries, says Dr. von Estorff. When an injury first occurs, applying ice can slow down a nerve's ability to conduct painful stimuli. So ice breaks the vicious cycle of muscle spasm/pain/muscle spasm.
Ice also works on the blood vessels to reduce the swelling caused by the leakage of fluid into the surrounding tissues, says Dr. von Estorff. Blood vessels react to ice by narrowing, a reaction called reflex vasoconstriction. The surrounding muscles respond to all of these physiological actions by relaxing and thus breaking the spasm.
To take advantage of this inexpensive and convenient therapy, read on.
Try an ice massage. Although gel ice packs are widely available, Dr. von Estoroff says that nothing beats the healing power of real ice. She suggests filling several paper cups with water and storing them in the freezer till needed. When it's time for an ice treatment, tear the paper away from the top rim of the cup, but leave the bottom of the cup intact so that you have something to hold.
Slowly massage the injured area with circular or short, overlapping strokes. Keep the ice moving so that you don't freeze surface tissue and suffer frostbite. The area may start to feel numb as the pain signals slow down, and as the blood vessels narrow, the skin may look pale. When the blood vessels open up again, the skin will turn red. Discontinue the ice after three to four minutes. You can repeat the ice treatment as often as every hour. When using ice in a pack or bag, make sure to cover it with a thin towel to protect the skin.
Set a timer. Apply an ice pack to an injury for 15 to 20 minutes, no longer. Dr. von Estorff recommends keeping the ice pack on for a full 20 minutes to achieve the maximum effect. After 20 minutes, she says, ice is no longer beneficial. As with ice massage, this treatment may be repeated every hour, if needed.
STEAM-POWERED HYDROTHERAPY
Remember when you were a kid and Mom slathered your chest with Vicks VapoRub, turned the hot water on full blast in the bathroom sink, draped a big towel over your head and shoulders and made you breathe in the steam? Your mom was a hydrotherapist.
When you're fighting a cold, flu, allergies or sinus problems, steam is a powerful and effective ally, explains Barbara Yawn, M.D., associate professor of clinical family medicine and community health at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. When you inhale steam, the warm, moist air helps relieve coughs and reduces the inflamed mucous membranes in your nose and throat. And the steam helps drain your sinuses.
If you have a respiratory ailment, here's how Dr. Yawn recommends that you get steamed safely.
Turn your shower into a steam bath. Turn on the shower full force with hot water, close your bathroom door and sit on the toilet seat for 15 minutes. Breathing the steam will loosen the mucus in your upper respiratory tract and promote drainage. Or, just take a good, long hot shower.
Use a vaporizer, cautiously. An electric steam vaporizer is an easy, effective way to get steam's decongestant benefits, but hot-steam devices rely on boiling water to generate the steam. Use any vaporizer with care, especially around children. Cool misters add humidity with greater safety. But cool misters must be cleaned with bleach after use to prevent bacterial growth.
HOT TOWELS, COLD TOWELS
Constitutional hydrotherapy is a fancy way of describing a simple variation of water therapy: alternating applications of hot wet towels and cold wet towels. According to Dr. Watrous, constitutional hydrotherapy is an essential element of naturopathic healing.
"I use constitutional hydrotherapy for almost every condition," says Dr. Watrous. "It's very gentle, and I've had much success with it. I find that everything from infections to premenstrual syndrome and menopausal problems responds well to constitutional hydrotherapy."
Dr. Zeff agrees. "Constitutional hydrotherapy lets you direct and improve blood flow to specific areas of the body that need attention," he says. "Combined with appropriate dietary changes, herbal medicine and other naturopathic treatments, you can achieve a very powerful healing effect."
If you visit a naturopathic physician who uses constitutional hydrotherapy, here's some of what you can expect: While you lie on your back in the naturopath's office, she will cover your bare chest and abdomen with two thicknesses of terry cloth dunked in comfortably hot water and wrung out. You'll then be covered with a woolen blanket to ward off chills.
After five minutes, the hot towels will be removed and replaced with a single thickness of towel dunked in cold water and wrung out, and you'll be re-covered with the blanket. The cold towel will be left on for ten minutes.
Finally, you'll then be asked to turn over, and the same treatment will be repeated on your back. From start to finish, a constitutional hydrotherapy session will last for about 30 minutes.
Dr. Zeff suggests trying the following constitutional hydrotherapy at home whenever you have a fever or want to ward off an illness. "It's a subtle yet powerful treatment," he says.
Take a hot five-minute bath or shower. Get out and towel-dry yourself quickly. Dunk a large bath towel in cold water and wring it out. Wrap the towel around the trunk of your body, from armpits to groin. Then lie down and cover yourself with a wool blanket to avoid getting chilled. Leave the towel in place for at least 20 minutes, until it is warmed.
