Hydrotherapy

We are studying hydrotherapy this week in classes. I find it absolutely amazing to see the healing properties of water and water related modalities. The following article gives a good overview of hydrotherapy and the many properties involved.

updated 6/26/04
Hydrotherapy
An introduction to healing with water
by Paul Ingraham, Registered Massage Therapist, Vancouver, Canada

Hydrotherapy is healing with water. More exactly, hydrotherapy is healing by heating and cooling. Water in its many forms just happens to be a very convenient substance for heating and cooling the human body.

I teach hydrotherapy skills to most of my clients. Hydrotherapies are useful, safe, simple and inexpensive. Anyone can use hydrotherapy to increase their health and vitality, and to speed healing from injuries and illnesses. It’s not a miracle cure — but it is an effective healing tool that no one should be without.

Water in its many forms just happens to be a very convenient substance for heating and cooling the human body.

Actually, most people already practice simple hydrotherapy. We have many cultural habits — like hot baths — that are hydrotherapeutic. If you have ever dipped your feet in a cool stream on a hot summer’s day or put a cold pack on a sprained article, then you already know something about hydrotherapy. But just a little education can add a lot of value to hydrotherapy.

There are some simple reasons why hydrotherapy is so useful …
Helping out the body

The body is constantly trying to warm itself up and cool itself off. Sometimes, it needs some help.

A lot of physiological energy is devoted to the temperature balancing act. The whole system for temperature control is complex and surprisingly effective. Unfortunately, it isn’t perfect. We can’t always keep our tissues at the ideal temperature.

We particularly struggle with temperature control when we are sick or damaged, and so hydrotherapy is most helpful at those times. It is a great service to your body to help out with a little hydrotherapy. Energy that would have been spent struggling to maintain the right temperature can be used for healing instead. Hydrotherapy treatments that seem unremarkable when you are healthy can turn out to be very potent when your system is challenged by an injury or an infection.
Hot and bothered

The treatment of inflammation in particular is another reason for the broad healing powers of hydrotherapy.

The process of inflammation always occurs with injury - you know it by the pain, swelling, heat and redness. It is a healthy response to any kind of tissue damage, and you couldn’t live without it. However, the body often over-reacts to trauma, which can be painful and counterproductive. Simple cooling in these situations is arguably one of the oldest and most useful healing tools ever devised.

Unfortunately, many people still rush to put a hot pack on a fresh injury, especially muscle strains. Except in a few very special cases, this is an error. Never heat a fresh injury - you’ll make it worse, not better, because you will aggravate the inflammatory process.
Moving blood around

The stimulation and control of circulation is another reason that hydrotherapy is effective. The circulation of blood is the major method by which the body regulates temperature. Therefore, it is possible to use hydrotherapy to manipulate and improve circulation significantly.

The need for proper circulation is even more important than the need to reduce inflammation when injured. Good circulation can make the difference between healing in a week or never healing at all! “The rate of flow of the blood determines the state of nutrition and the functioning of every cell in the body” (Frederick Erdman). Overall health also depends heavily on proper circulation.

“Pain is the prayer of the nerve for better blood.” — Mortiz H. Romberg