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eLearning Series:
I Want a Natural Health Remedy
( 50 articles in this series )
Hydrotherapy:
Use
H2O To Treat Medical Conditions
Hydrotherapy
is using water to treat various types of medical conditions. This practice has been part of
disease and health condition treatment for thousands of years.
Many ancient cultures, including Japan, China, and Rome used
hydrotherapy as standard practice. Bavarian monk, Father Sebastian
Kneipp, made hydrotherapy popular in the nineteenth century.
Current uses of this treatment include baths, saunas, wraps,
and packs.
Hydrotherapy is typically used to improve
muscle tone, help with digestive and intestinal processes,
stimulate circulation,
improve the immune system, and offer pain relief. Water has
the unique ability to eliminate stress and heal the body. It
can not only assist the external body parts like skin, it can
also soothe the major organs as well as the nervous system.
There are a number of techniques to use hydrotherapy. Cold
rubbing is one unique use of this practice. It is primarily
used to invigorate and tone the body. To start, soak a cloth,
preferably linen, in cold water. Ring it out and rub the entire
body. After this is complete, go to bed until your body is
warm and dry.
Another form of hydrotherapy is a douche. A gentle douche
can be carried out with a container of water or a source of
water like a hose or shower head. The water, though, should
never splash the skin. The water should flow in toward the
heart. After the douche is complete, shake off the excess,
get dressed, and work out. There are a number of types of douches.
The knee douche is used for headaches, blood pressure problems,
sleep issues, and skin problems like bruising or varicose veins.
In this process, the water should move from the toes toward
the knee, then back to the sole of the foot. It should be repeated
for the other leg.
A thigh
douche is very similar. The procedure is essentially
the same as above, but instead of stopping at the knee, move
toward the upper thigh. In addition to the conditions a knee
douche treats, this can also improve circulation. A lower trunk
douche is, again, the same procedure, but the entire lower
half of your body should be included. This can help with the
swelling of major organs or the formation of gall or kidney
stones. The arm douche is used for anxiety issues, rheumatism,
heart difficulties, and headaches. To complete this procedure,
take the stream of water from the outside of the hand to the
shoulder, then back on the inside of the arm. It should be
repeated for the other arm. The upper trunk douche involves
much the same procedure, but don't stop at the shoulder. Continue
to the chest. This should help with lung and throat difficulties.
It can also stimulate the cardiovascular system. The face douche,
useful for headaches, eye problems, and toothaches, can be
completed by starting at the right temple and moving toward
the chin, then up to the left temple, and over the course of
the forehead, then making circles about the face.
An additional form of hydrotherapy is a steam
bath. These
help with circulation, heart rate, hormone production, and
airway flow. Additionally, they have been known to boost the
immune system, relax the individual, and help with depression.
It is important, though, in a steam bath to avoid overheating.
Do not spend more than fifteen to twenty minutes in a steam
bath.
Full
and partial immersion baths are also forms of hydrotherapy. For back pain and the common cold, a rising temperature hip
bath can be helpful. For fifteen minutes, three times a week,
stand in a tub with rising hot water. It should start at the
foot and rise to the navel. The eventual temperature should
reach one hundred and three degrees. A cold foot bath can assist
with varicose veins, headaches, circulation issues, and sleep
problems. Place both feet in a bath filled with cold water
up to the calf. You should stop when the water no longer seems
cold. Wipe off the extra water, then walk or run until you
are dry.
A
final form of hydrotherapy is the wrap. Wraps are used to
treat fever and inflammation. A cloth, preferably linen, should
be wet with cold water and wrung out. It should then be tightly
wrapped around the part of the body that is ill, but do not
constrict that part of the body. Once you’ve completed this
wrap, wrap again with a dry linen cloth. The person receiving
the wrap can then relax for an hour. If the wrap is not warm
after fifteen minutes, a hot water bottle should be applied.
If at any point in time, the person receiving the wrap feels
ill, the wrap should be removed. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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