by Ann Major

Created on: March 12, 2011   Last Updated: May 23, 2011

The virtues of hydrotherapy have long been recognized by ancient civilizations as being beneficial and therapeutic toward alleviating aches, pains, and disease.  The Romans were famous for their common public baths; the Greeks for their therapeutic baths; and Egyptian royalty who loved to bathe in water strewn with aromatic flowers or enhanced with essential oils.  Hippocrates, the father of medicine advocated people bathe in spring waters as a cure for illness.

With its revival in the 19th century by a monk named Father Kneipp, the popularity of hydrotherapy has continued on to modern day, its various techniques used for relaxation, to address ailments and numerous health conditions.  From arthritis to back pain, sciatica to depression, swollen joints to insomnia, people have found relief in various types of hydrotherapy.

As complementary or alternative medicine, hydrotherapy contains analgesic properties, with the ability to stimulate the production of endorphins for relaxation and reduce stress; to improve blood circulation by bringing oxygen to tissues and painful joints; and to enable this circulation to drain the lymphatic system of toxins and wastes.

These methods consist of using water, steam or dry heat to heal the body, via the usage of hot baths, compresses, wraps, packs, or saunas to relieve injuries to the spinal cord; arthritis of the spine; and treat people with burns, paralysis, stroke or spastic movements, as in muscular sclerosis. 

Some processes involve using hot, cold, or a combination of the two, to both dilate and constrict blood vessels to relax the body through warmth, and send the blood to the inner organs through cold.  In effect, this alternating of hot and cold applications to the body help stimulate or massage the blood vessels to relieve inflammation.

These techniques include either full or partial immersion in water ( tub or foot bath), or application of water to affected areas (compresses or packs).  People with high blood pressure, however, should not use foot baths, hot tubs, saunas or steam inhalation, or at least not stay very long, as this could cause a deleterious reaction.

Baths:

Full immersion baths involve sitting in water up to one's shoulders, in temperatures of 90-95 degrees Fahrenheit, for no longer than a duration of 20 minutes.  Oils, herbs, salts or special mud can be used to infuse and enhance healing powers.  A variation on a theme is the use of steam instead of water

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