Some Spa Tips for Using Hydrotherapy at Home

With the advances of modern plumbing and accessories, many of us can now make our own adaptations of hydrotherapy for home use. I will not get into the history of water therapy here, but perhaps later I can write up something on that subject. Meanwhile, there is plenty of historical material online regarding the contributions of people like Sebastian Kneipp and Vincent Priessnitz, the fathers of therapeutic hydrotherapy.

The primary basis of hydrotherapy is that cold water causes blood vessels to constrict (vasoconstriction) while hot water causes blood vessels to expand (vasodilation). The greater the contrast in water temperature, the greater the effect created on a given customer/client. Vasoconstriction helps flush out waste material from swollen muscles or injured tissue, while vasodilation floods the area with fresh oxygenated blood.

At this point I am obligated to mention that people with high blood pressure, who are taking blood pressure medications, who have problems sensing hot and cold (like advanced diabetes), people with edema or thrombosis or hi risk pregnancy or varicose veins, should NOT have a full treatment of hydrotherapy with very hot water. Also persons with a fever or active infection, or broken skin or bruises, should be very cautious about exposing themselves to extreme temperatures. People who are taking medications for any of the above conditions may have to be cleared by a doctor before receiving hydrotherapy. People with mild versions of the above conditions may be able to have hydrotherapy but at reduced temperature extremes or for a reduced length of time.

We already instinctively know some of the basic principles of hydrotherapy. Hot baths or showers help us relax and get ready for bed. Cold showers help us get up and at ‘em in the morning when getting ready for work. Of course, prolonged exposure to icy water will start to cause hypothermia and reduced blood circulation to the extremities.

The Bath --
Take the basic hot bath and soak. What things can you add to the water to enhance the benefits?
Epsom salts -- for muscle relaxation and to stimulate perspiration.
Apple Cider Vinegar -- 2-3 cups added to a bath will relieve itching; smaller amounts are invigorating.
Oatmeal -- 3-4 cups relieves sunburn or other skin inflammation. NOTE: you may not want to deal with the cleanup! An alternative is to put a scoop into an infuser such as a tea ball, or sewn into a sachet-type cloth bag.
Chamomile or lavender sachets or essential oils for relaxing.
Powdered seaweeds or muds act to normalize skin. NOTE: here again, as with oatmeal, you may not want to deal with cleanup. There are mud-based concoctions in a tube that are easy to use; they are ideal for applying to your face while you soak in the tub. The established brand Queen Helene has a “Mint Julep Masque” that is kaolin based; it shrinks pores and pulls out dirt from pores as it dries. A more recent product is You-Nique, with an acacia, aloe and cornstarch base that is billed as the natural facelift.
Essential oils -- You have a wide choice of scents to choose from. Most people report better results with natural essential oils, as the man-made versions sometimes cause headaches or allergic reactions. I will have to deal with subject of essential oils separately in another article

The Shower --
Many of us are in and out of the shower without thinking twice about it. But using hot and cold water for therapeutic effect has a long history. If you have a hose attachment on a removable shower head, all the better. But even if you have a fixed shower head, you can still benefit from hot and cold therapy.
Use hot water for your normal quick bathing, but finish with a cool or cold rinse. This is very invigorating to the circulation. Those who are a bit skittish about this may choose to only put their feet and hands/arms under the cold water, but may find that they grow to tolerate whole-body immersion under the flow.

Water Treading --
One of Sebastian Kneipp’s techniques was water treading -- walking in a cold mountain stream. This also is very therapeutic for legs aching from working hard all day, or for hikers needing a break in their mountain climbing. Those of us who live far from mountain streams (that’s most of us) have to make do with simulated mountain streams, in the form of a bathtub filled with cold water. It helps with cramping, poor circulation, exhaustion or weakness, varicose veins, any foot problems. The water should be at least up to the ankle and may be up to the knees.

Scotch Shower --
Those of you with a hose on your shower head attachment can try a form of Scotch shower -- a focused stream of water on problem areas, or applied in a flowing patterns over the whole body. Areas of muscle cramps benefit from application of hot and cold alternating water flow.
As always, drink plenty of water after any spa massage or other treatment. Physical and hydrostatic manipulation pushes waste material out of the muscles and blood vessels -- clients who do not drink enough water often feel flu-like symptoms.

Thanks for stopping by, and check back again for more information and tips.

Did You Know?

A number of research studies indicate that massage therapy can assist in patients’ recovery from many conditions. Studies have found use of massage to be effective in boosting the body’s immune system functioning, easing post-operative pain, easing alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and soothing chronic back pain better than other complementary therapies. Recent studies have also associated massage therapy with substantive relief of symptoms in cancer patients, such as pain, fatigue, stress, anxiety, nausea, and depression.

To find a professional massage therapist in your area, go to AMTA’s Find A Massage Therapist® national locator service at www.findamassagetherapist.org. It's a quick and easy way to find an AMTA massage therapist to provide the massage you need.

AMTA members listed in AMTA’s locator service must meet any and all local or state licensing requirements for massage therapists. All information included in the locator service is provided by individual members, and AMTA presumes all information to be true and correct. AMTA assumes no liability for incorrect information provided to AMTA for inclusion in this locator service, nor does AMTA represent these practitioners as competent.

Massage Therapy as an Adjunct to Recovery from a Car Crash: Moving Testimony

One cannot read this moving testimony to the value of massage therapy and then deny its value to a holistic program of accident recovery. It does me good to read of people who have been helped on many levels by skilled massage therapists.

Healing Touch by guest Diana Lund

You can’t fully imagine how bad it was. After I was in a car crash, my continual pulse of thoughts stopped dead. The only time I could generate an idea was in reaction to an event, such as when a person asked me a question, or when I tripped and fell. Otherwise, I lived in internal silence. But one day while getting a massage, in my fifth year of recovery, fluidity of thought returned! Now, in my tenth year of massage treatments, I recall my introduction to therapeutic massage and its role in my revitalization.

In a makeshift room of curtain walls, a month after the four-car collision had taken away my mental and physical prowess, a physical therapist evaluated my body. After moving my arms, legs, and head every which way, as much as tension and pain would allow, she told me, “I can’t work with you.”

“I’m permanently damaged?” I wondered.

“Your body is so stiff, my only choice is to send you to massage. For about a month.”

I’d been in a neck brace the first three days after the accident, and when it came off, I’d lost several degrees of neck rotation. The only way I could back up a car was by using mirrors. My right leg was a little shorter than my left leg, and my right arm couldn’t reach a glass on a shelf at eye level. In the third week, as my body shock began to wear off, an all-consuming, muscle-wrenching, eye-watering pain commenced.

At the rehabilitation clinic, the physical therapist handed me off to Cathy, an amiable, relaxed massage therapist. Soon, I was lying on my back, Cathy’s hands kneading my neck, shoulder, and upper back.

While she worked, Cathy reported, “Neck muscles—tight. Shoulder blades—tight. Trapezius—very tight.” Unlike other massages I’d had over the years—I’d been a recreational soccer forward who’d occasionally had massages to soothe overworked muscles—this one didn’t approach nirvana.

Instead, my soft tissue responded like a giant knot in an evenly-matched tug of war. It didn’t have much give. It fought manipulation. Even though Cathy touched me carefully, I winced from the contact and yipped repeatedly. Sweat soaked the underlying sheet. Experiencing more pain than pleasure, I willed the session to end.

I didn’t want to skip the massage. I just wanted its end results faster. When the half-hour was up, my body seemed a little looser.

That day, my physical therapist recorded: “Goals: pain-free cervical range of motion . . . [and] pain-free . . . shoulders, neck, lower back . . . at rest. Was involved in an MVA [motor vehicle accident]. Had concussion. Communication is strained due to cognitive/memory difficulty.”

I must have arrived late to my next appointment because I could no longer track time, and instead depended on chance that I would glance at my schedule around the time I was supposed to leave. Having lost the ability to spontaneously think about the future, I didn’t feel any apprehension upon arrival at the clinic. When Cathy greeted me, I didn’t recognize her, but I probably pretended to know her. The manipulation mirrored my previous one—painful.

Each session repeated until I eventually remembered Cathy, the pain, the relief from pain. Soon, physical therapy began in conjunction with massage. Over months of appointments, I saw many physiotherapists. Like an opening flower, my body’s tension unwound and my brain’s functioning improved.

After two years, my home exercise regimen was sufficient and I didn’t need to go to physical therapy anymore. But I continued on with another massage therapist, Wes, an amazing rejuvenator. He introduced me to craniosacral therapy, a rhythmic scalp massage and gentle pulling of the hair. Afterward, I sensed a freeness to my brain, like it had been lubed and my neurons’ signals flowed better.

It was in the middle of one of Wes’s sessions that fluidity of thought returned to me. On another breakthrough day, after an hour’s session, my night vision suddenly improved and I could drive during darkness again! And Wes also finished what my physical therapist had started. He got my right arm to extend above my head—something a doctor initially told me I would never regain.

Massage brings pleasure again and I owe the massage therapy community a debt of gratitude for their part in my condition’s improvement, and for accelerating the return of keen thought required to write. Thank you for staying with me for a decade, performing miracles I’d not dreamt possible.

Diana Lund is a freelance writer living in the Chicago area. She is author of the memoir Remind Me Why I'm Here: Sifting through Sudden Loss of Memory and Judgment. To read more about her work, visit www.dianalundwriter.com.

Hello, World!

This month in my new blog you can read a first-person account of the benefits of therapeutic massage for recovery after injury. Also, recent research into the benefits of massage for a variety of medical conditions.