What is Hydrotherapy?

Hydrotherapy is a method of treating disease by using water at different temperatures and in different ways. The water may be swallowed, or injected into body cavities, or applied to the outside of the body by baths or pads. Of all the home treatments, hydrotherapy is the oldest, the most popular and the most useful. Like all of the true remedies, hydrotherapy requires more skill, effort, and patience than do many other forms of therapy. The skill required is not so great that all can, with diligence and patience, master it. The rewards of healing under God's special blessing is very great from hydrotherapy.

Physiological Basis of Hydrotherapy Treatments

Water has a number of unique physical properties that makes it especially well suited to be a therapeutic agent. Water has the greatest specific heat of any common substance. That means that it takes more energy to change the temperature of water than that of any other common substance. This means that water can store more energy in itself than other common substances. Yet at one and the same time water is a good conductor of heat energy. This means that anything put in water will be powerfully influenced with respect to temperature because water is such a good conductor of heat energy. Water will conduct heat 27 times more effectively than air. Water shares a property with air, in that it completely envelops and surrounds intimately anything immersed in it. Water is completely compatible with the human body, in fact the human body contains about 75% water. This means that the human body cannot be allergic or be irritated by water and that the heat conduction properties of the body and water are similar because the body contains such a high percentage of water. Finally water is the universal solvent. Just about anything will dissolve in water. This means that water is just about the most powerful cleaning agent we have. And in spite of all these special qualities of water it is probably the most easily available and therefore the cheapest commodity known to mankind still today.

In summary, the most important properties of water from a treatment standpoint are:

1. Water is non-irritating, non-allergic, and totally compatible with human physiology both inside and outside of the body.
2. Water is heat conducting and at the same time greatly heat storing in capacity so that it is the ideal agent for manipulating body temperature.
3. Water is totally conformable to the body surfaces. This means that it makes an intimate interface with whatever it comes in contact, which greatly facilitates its ability to affect the temperature the object it contacts.
4. Water is inexpensive in spite of all its marvelous properties.

The affect on the human body depends upon how water is administered. Basically there are two different routes of administration: internally and externally on the body surface. Today, we usually only think of hydrotherapy in terms of external body surface administration of water. The internal administration of water we usually today think of in terms of general health principles e.g. drinking 6 - 8 glasses of water a day or we think of internal administration of water solutions as hydration therapy rather than hydrotherapy even though water is being used. Such re-hydration therapies are: enemas or subcutaneous or body cavity (e.g. peritoneal) infusions or intravenous rehydration which is the most commonly used today. This restricted use of the term hydrotherapy is a recent trend. Specialization has influenced our thinking. However the use of water as a true remedy includes both internal and external use of water. Here we will discuss external forms of hydrotherapy only.

How water affects the body when applied to the body surface:

1. Water is absorbed to some degree directly through the skin. When minute amounts of the substance applied to the skin are desired, then skin application is one way of getting substances into the body. However for large volume requirements e.g. for body fluid re-hydration needs, skin absorption is of limited value because such a small amount of fluid is absorbed directly through the skin. Certainly this is a useful way of limiting the loss of water through the skin. Loss of water through the skin is through perspiration, commonly known as sweating. When the body is immersed in water, fluid loss by sweating is stopped and a small amount of fluid is absorbed while none is lost through the skin. Body fluid loss by sweat is very variable and depends upon body activity and temperature. Sweating is one of the main temperature regulatory mechanisms that the body has.
2. Water maximally affects the temperature of the body because of its high specific heat and heat conductivity properties. Because of the body's homeostasis mechanisms, the whole body physiology is affected through the temperature affect of water.
3. Water profoundly affects the nervous system of the body. This is due to two factors. First of all the largest organ of the body is the skin. It is to the skin that hydrotherapy is applied. The skin is not only a vast organ in size, but is richly supplied by nerve endings which means that the central nervous system receives an overwhelming sensory input with the application of hydrotherapy.
4. Water affects the mood of the person. This is unavoidable given the size and intensity of the sensory input the individual gets through hydrotherapy.
5. Blood flow is profoundly affected, locally and reflexly throughout the body. With the application of heat, the blood vessels and capillaries dilate and blood is brought to the body part. When cold is applied to the skin, the vessels constrict and blood is dispelled from the body part. The affect of alternate hot and cold is that of an efficient local blood pump. Wastes are removed from the body part and new blood and nutrients are brought in by the blood. In addition cold has the effect of multiplying the number of white blood cells which are responsible for fighting infection.
6. Water has a profound affect on the local skin to which the water is applied. This is in addition to and entirely separate from any water that is absorbed through the local skin.

The affects of water on the body surface can be summarized under three headings:

1. Local affects e.g. hydration, cleansing on the local skin.
2. Reflex effects - mediated by the nervous and circulatory systems
3. Mood or attitude affects on the person's psyche - stimulating, relaxing, soothing, feeling of well-being etc.

Water has these varied affects in three different ways dependent upon water's physical properties:

1. Temperature/ heat conducting properties
2. Solvent / cleansing properties
3. Mind affecting properties mediated by water's fluid characteristics interfacing with the body's largest and very generously innervated organ - the skin.

Thus it can be seen that it would take a lot of time and thought to detail all the specific and different ways and physiological pathways through which hydrotherapy works. Suffice it to note that hydrotherapy is using a very powerful medium, water, that has a very instant and powerful affect on body physiology. God has given us knowledge in the use of hydrotherapy that can be used to be a great blessing to the sick and suffering. May we pray for grace and energy to use the knowledge God gives us to His glory and honor.

Treatment Expectations

1. Rest and Relaxation. Because it takes time to receive (and give) a hydrotherapy treatment, rest and relaxation is a potential benefit from the treatment. If the patient relaxes and enjoys the treatment; rest, enjoyment, and relaxation can be a rational expectation from the treatment.
2. Anti-inflammatory effects can certainly be expected. Hot and cold treatments are probably the most powerful anti-inflammatory treatments with essentially no side-effects, known to mankind. While the anti-inflammatory effects are certain, it takes other true remedies working in concert with hot and cold treatments to effect a cure for the inflamed body part, for example, tendonitis or bursitis. An unrefined, whole plant diet and general exercise such as walking, swimming, or cycling are needed to act in concert with the hot and cold to effect a permanent cure of the inflammation.
3. Anti-infectious effects of the hot and cold hydrotherapy treatments are dependent upon the body's immune system being potentiated. Mental attitude such as trust in Divine power, nutrition, rest, general exercise, internal use of water, sunlight, fresh air, cleanliness are all important in potentiating the immune system.

Conclusions

Hydrotherapy is a very broad subject that can only be introduced here. The skillful use of water as a treatment modality is an extremely potent and useful, ancient home remedy. The physical properties of water and the fact that about 75% of body content is water contribute to the reason for water treatments being so effective. Hydrotherapy works especially well in concert with the other true remedies such as sunlight, fresh air, hygiene, temperance, unrefined diet, rest, exercise, and trust in Divine power.

To learn about specific hydrotherapy treatments that you can do at home, just click on the names listed below. You will find a description of the treatment as well as what the treatment is used for, supplies you will need, and step-by-step instructions on how to give it.