The Herbalist Newsletter
The Therapeutic Bath
Hydrotherapy Is The Healing Power of Water
Volume 1, Issue 1
PRESCRIPTIVE
WATER
Hydrotherapy is the therapeutic use of water for healing.
In the form of bathing this medical art is a well established practice where
natural thermal springs provide large amounts of heated water for use in natural
or man made pools. There are many ways to use water for healing including steam
baths, hot and cold soaks, poultices, wraps, compresses, and full and partial
immersions to mention a few. Many techniques that provide relieve and healing
are easily adapted to the home bath.
People have always sought to discover the secrets of healing. Evidence of this
begins in the distant past where ancient sites and artifacts reveal a story
in prehistoric waterworks. The development of thermal pools and springs, the
fabled "sacred well" where the miraculous occurs, are humanities oldest
healing centers. It is the miracle of rejuvenation, the casting off of ills
and pain and the restoration of health that made these sites sacred, from the
passage of Thermopylae, to the Spring at Mecca, to the austere placement of
the Machu Picchu hot and cold springs.
Patron deities and saints have evolved around natural
thermal pools. Throughout the ages these natural sites first became shrines,
then temples, then health retreats which have developed into many of today's therapeutic resort spas. The word SPA itself is the acronym to Emperor Nero's
famous statement in support of the great Roman bath projects, "Sanitas
Per Aquas," (Health Through Water). Even early Americans knew the value
of the spa and it is no surprise the first hospital for American Vets built
by George Washington at Yellow Springs, PA, was on a pre-Colombian thermal site.
The earliest writers of medicine recognized that only
the power of Nature provided for the keeping ore regaining of health.
The ancient methods of the Hippocratic and Epicurean schools differed in scientific
approach but agreed that rebalancing the system to let 'Nature' cause the healing
was the key to success. Little has changed in the concepts of modern healing
except the sophistication of the various ways to adjust an imbalance and allow
Nature to work its miracle. Water techniques followed through every chapter
of medical development. Baths were generally taken in the form of a prescription
from a physician, and carried out in a suitable public facility built around
a thermal pool. It was only in the mid twentieth century with advances in plumbing
that new homes featured a "Bath Room," a room named after one of the
most exclusive healing resorts of all time. The Spa at Bath in England was made
world famous by Julius Caesar in the early years of this Millennium and has
not closed its doors yet!
Hydrotherapy is a cornerstone of Naturopathic medicine.
In his book, Naturopathic Hydrotherapy, 1988, Dr. Wade Boyle says, "Naturopathic
Hydrotherapy is, by definition, hydrotherapy which is readily joined to other
natural modalities, such as nutrition, herbs, and homeopathy, to enhance the
patient's ability to achieve better health."
WATER IS THE LIQUID CRYSTAL OF ALL LIFE
The mechanics of water is both simple and complex.
The circulation of water through the biosphere unites all water systems including
the animated bodies of all living things. The solar influence on the water body
of the earth is the cause of global weather patterns, water distributions, and
the flow of life. Water is the liquid crystal of all biology. According to Linus
Pauling in his book, General Chemistry, "Waters physical properties are
strikingly different from those of other substances, in ways that determine
the nature of the physical and biological world." The "different"
properties of water form the characteristics of life! Theodore Schwent, founder
of the Institute of Flow Sciences has shown in amazing photographs the
similarity between various water flow patterns and organic life structures.
He says in his book, Water, Element Of Life, 1989, "Water's flow
constantly links life and death. It is the mediator between the two, and its
surface provides a common frontier in nature where they meet. Death is continuously
being overcome there."
Primarily water has a thermal quality which acts upon a life form to cause a
reflex response of flow, a movement, a circulation. Secondly, water is a delivery
system that provides nutrients and removes toxins. The heating and cooling of
water creates circulation both in the weather patterns of the earth and in the
body of a living being. We are all part of a vast, and interrelated water system.
In a healing thermal bath, heat generates a calculated effect that may be skillfully
manipulated to stimulate physical response. Mineral, herbal, and nutritional
solutions can provide the body with vital elements of health. Your bath can
provide you with a powerful physical therapy, the ancient healing miracle of
"the well."
THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF HYDROTHERAPY
The hydrotherapy bath is a valuable system for healing
and rehabilitation treatments recognized to possess the following benefits in
modern medical texts:
- Increases the circulation throughout the
body.
- Softens connective tissue, increases collagen
extensibility and decreases joint pain.
- Relief from muscle pain.
- Relief from muscle spasms and cramps.
- Resolve skin eruptions, exudates, and edema.
- Stimulates elimination of toxins from the
cells into the bloodstream and through the skin.
- Reduces nervous stress.
- Stimulates the immune system.
- Stimulates vital organ chemistry.
- Promotes relaxation, rest, and recovery.
TEMPERATURES FOR IMMERSION BATHS
| Above 110 degrees Fahrenheit |
Too hot! Not
recommended for home care use except as directed by your physician. |
| 105 / 110 degrees Fahrenheit |
Very hot. High side endurable for only a short time, 5 -
15 minutes. Exercise caution of hyperthermia. Not
recommended for those with cardio vascular conditions. |
| 100 / 105 degrees Fahrenheit |
Hot. A generally endurable range for most hot bath requirements.
15 - 25 minute baths. |
| 98 / 100 degrees Fahrenheit |
Warm bath. Just above body temperature. Ideal for absorption
of herbal baths. 15 - 30 minute baths. |
| 90 / 98 degrees Fahrenheit |
Neutral bath. Comfortable baths produce heating reflex. This
is a normal range of skin surface temperature. 5 - 10 minute baths. |
| 80 / 90 degrees Fahrenheit |
Cool baths. Tolerably cooling. Used only for baths of short
duration for the heating reflex, under 5 minutes. |
| 65 / 80 degrees Fahrenheit |
Cold bath. Very short plunge type baths for dramatic body
heating reflex. Not recommended for longer than thirty seconds. Caution
against hypothermia. |
| Below 65 degrees Fahrenheit |
Very Cold. Not
recommended for home care use unless directed by your physician |
