A Simple Guide To Hydrotherapy, Purposes, Types, Disease Treatment And Related Conditions

This book describes Hydrotherapy, Types and disease Treatment and Related TreatmentsHydrotherapyEvery time you bathe with warm water or cold water you are using hydrotherapy!All my patients who have pain due to rheumatism should soak their feet in warm water while those with varicose veins and swelling should soak their feet in cold water at home. Hydrotherapy is simply the use of water for medical treatment, healing, pain and discomfort relief, and the promotion of physical well-being.
Dating back to ancient Greek and Rome, the usage of water for therapy has a long tradition, drawing upon the healing properties of water and the body's reaction to heat and cold. Hydrotherapy is the use of water in the treatment of different disorders, such as arthritis and related rheumatic complaints. Hydrotherapy is different from swimming because it requires special exercises that the patient does in a warm-water pool.
The water temperature is normally 33-36ºC, which is warmer than a normal swimming pool. The patient will normally have hydrotherapy treatment in a hospital's physiotherapy department. Normally a physiotherapist or a physiotherapist's assistant with specialist training will show the patient how to do the exercises in warm water. Principles of HydrotherapyAccording to proponents of hydrotherapy, cold water causes superficial blood vessels to constrict, moving blood flow away from the surface of the body to organs.
Hot water stimulates superficial blood vessels to dilate, activating sweat glands, and removing waste from body tissues. Alternating hot and cold water is believed to reduce inflammation and encourage blood circulation and lymphatic drainage. In hydrotherapy, water can take the form of steam, liquid, or ice which is used internally or externally. Cold water, which naturally stimulates and energizes, is used to improve the body's internal activity, while warm water, with its calming and soothing effect, reduces these processes down.
Alternating between cold and hot water treatments, also called hydrothermal therapy, is effective to reduce inflammation, improve certain body functions, and heal injury. Therapeutic Effects of WaterWater is an adaptable medium to work with in therapy. Being water, it possesses buoyancy and is a capable of a range of movements and pressures. Water can be used as a jet or a range of sprays allowing the control of pressures.
Since water has thermal properties it can be applied over a wide range of temperatures. One of the basic laws of Hydrotherapy is that of action and reaction. The application of any form of heat to the skin draws the blood to the surface. While this is not a lasting effect, the blood ultimately returns to the deeper blood vessels. The application of cold water has the initial effect of driving blood away from the surface.
The secondary and lasting effect is that of warmth since by the law of action and reaction the blood must circulate back to the vessels and tissues from which it was driven. Types of warm water hydrotherapy are:1. Hot Shower or Bath2. Epsom Salt Bath3. Hot Tub4. Sauna5. Steam Inhalation6. Water Jet Massage7. Warm Compress/Heat Pack8. Humidifier9. AromatherapyCold Water TherapyCold water hydrotherapy may be:1.
Ice Packs2. Cold Plunge Pools3. Snow Rooms4. Artificial Ice5. Sitz Baths6. Cold Mitten Friction RubDisorders treated by hydrotherapy are:1. Pain relief2. Back pain3. Sore muscles4. Muscle/joint problems5. Poor circulation6. Arthritis7. Osteoarthritis8. Common cold9. Sleep disorders10. Headaches11. RheumatismHydrotherapy is used as a contribution to treatment such as in burns and selective mechanical debridementTABLE OF CONTENTIntroductionChapter 1 Hydrotherapy...