Hydrotherapy includes all treatments that use water for therapeutic purposes. You will discover in this sheet what hydrotherapy is, its principles, its benefits and many other things.

Hydrotherapy is a treatment based on the use of water, regardless of the type (sea, spring, mineral, or even tap), in its liquid form, but also gas, and at variable temperatures. . This includes baths, showers, jets, compresses, etc.

Aromatherapy and herbalism are frequently combined with hydrotherapy by adding essential oils or herbal extracts to the process water. Epsom salt and apple cider vinegar are also common “additives”.

The principles

Water has two characteristics that are used in rehabilitation exercises: the uniform resistance that its mass opposes to movement and the relative weightlessness of a body that is immersed in it. It also has four other properties that are very useful in hydrotherapy:

• it maintains its temperature;
• it communicates this temperature much better than air;
• it transports minerals or plant essences in suspension;
• it turns into jets, bubbles, currents, etc.

It is most often practiced in a care center and at certain naturopaths. There are also several establishments with no therapeutic claims, but which aim to get back into shape or beauty treatments such as spas.

External hydrotherapy

In external hydrotherapy, the water is put in contact with the skin and the mucous membranes. It is therefore composed of showers, baths, steams, massages …

Cold water baths and compresses cause blood vessels to constrict, instantly reducing inflammation and pain. It is used in particular in cases of contusion and hemorrhoids. With some exceptions, cold water is only used for short-term treatments and these are generally alternated with hot treatments. As for steam baths, they have the effect of opening the pores of the skin and thus evacuating part of the body’s waste. These include chemicals absorbed from air, water or food, as well as toxic residues from certain metabolic processes. This detoxification results in general well-being. It is also useful in the treatment of various skin problems.

Hot water and steam increase body temperature. However, the idea of ​​artificially creating the state of fever – and the sweating that accompanies it – to treat certain ailments dates back at least to ancient Greece. It is well known today that fever is used to fight infection. The heat also helps dilate blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, and increases blood supply to the skin and muscles. It is through the dilation effect that hot water baths and compresses help relieve conditions such as muscle spasms, joint inflammation and menstrual pain.

Several types of massages can be practiced under water jets – soothing or stimulating -, which multiplies the pleasure, and perhaps the benefits. Forms of massage in water have even been developed recently: the Veechi aquamassage and the watsu.

Internal hydrotherapy

Internal hydrotherapy includes aerosol therapy, gargling, nebulization, drinking cure… The minerals present in the water (some of which are essential for health such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iodine, etc. .), would provide beneficial effects by entering the blood during treatment.

Spa treatment and arthritis

A few randomized clinical trials evaluating the effects of hydrotherapy in different forms (spa, baths using different kinds of water, etc.) in subjects with osteoarthritis of the knees and hip have been published. The results show that these treatments could lead to improvements in quality of life, range of motion, functional capacity, disease severity index, as well as reductions in pain and medication.

Hydrotherapy and arthritis

The mechanisms by which hydrotherapy could relieve these symptoms are not yet known. Some researchers believe that the possible benefits result from a combination of factors, including some mechanical, thermal and chemical effects.

A study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis has shown that hydrotherapy can improve an individual’s sense of well-being. This would also improve the quality of life of an individual suffering from ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of arthritis characterized by damage to the spinal joints. When pharmacological treatments are ineffective, interventions such as physiotherapy and exercise are the only hope of alleviating symptoms. Hydrotherapy may also be beneficial for psoriatic arthritis.

Spa treatment and rheumatology

Spa treatments reduce joint pain, tendonitis and back pain. These are the number 1 treatment for this type of condition.

Spa treatment and dermatology

Thanks to its mechanical, thermal and chemical effects, hydrotherapy could be useful in dermatology. Some studies tend to demonstrate the beneficial effect of this approach in the treatment of psoriasis, but additional research will be necessary to be able to rule on its effectiveness. The presence in the water of different minerals and trace elements seems to be a factor that significantly determines the results.

Spa treatment and heart failure

Decrease symptoms of chronic heart failure. Only one well-controlled clinical trial, involving 15 subjects, has been published on this subject (in 2003). The results suggest that a hydrotherapy program combining hot and cold water applications has beneficial effects on the quality of life and the symptoms of heart failure as well as on the heart rate, whether in the body. rest or in response to exercise.

Contraindications to hydrotherapy

Due to their vasodilator effect, prolonged hot baths and steam baths are not recommended in some cases: they can cause or worsen migraine, varicose veins and rosacea. In addition, pregnant women and people with hypertension, diabetes or cardiovascular disease should avoid them, unless directed by a doctor.

Contrary to what some practices recommend, babies should not be given lukewarm baths to reduce their fever; the intervention is not only ineffective, but it also causes discomfort that can be detrimental to healing35.

In addition, if the water is not properly disinfected, its temperature in jet baths and other hot basins can cause the proliferation of bacteria (including Mycobacterium avium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and present certain risks of infection. Caution is required, both in private and public baths.

Choosing the right spa treatment

The choice of a spa establishment is made according to its therapeutic orientation, and this is partly determined by the nature of the water to which the establishment has access. As for the treatments offered, they include various manipulations (massages, physiotherapy) as well as multiple ways of administering »water: carbonated gas bath, sonic aerosol, immersion shower, oven, inhalation, hydrodrainage, etc.

Reimbursement of spa treatment

The costs of a spa treatment can be covered by the Health Insurance in certain cases. For this, you must complete a support file on their website.

Most of the citizens of the Roman Empire used the communal bath every day. In India, purification (physical and spiritual) by water has always been part of the daily routine. In Japan, we go to hot springs with friends or family. In the Nordic, Russian and Scandinavian countries, steam baths have been used for over 1 years, while Native Americans have their sweat lodges.

In the West, we recognize a few people to have revived the practice at the beginning of the 1687th century. At that time, the English doctor Richard Russel (1759-1799) established in his country the practice of stays at sea for health reasons. He believed in particular in the virtues of iodine. Then, the Austrian Vinzenz Priessnitz (1851-XNUMX), son of a farmer, healed himself from a hoof hit to the chest with cold water compresses. Stimulated by the interest aroused by his recovery, he transformed the family farm into an accommodation and care center.

Father Sébastien Kneipp (1821-1897), who is said to have cured himself of tuberculosis, plays an even more important role in the development of contemporary practice thanks to his integrated holistic concept. In his opinion, the four building blocks of good health are plants (medicinal and aromatic), exercise, nutrition and water, the different uses of which enhance the body’s self-healing powers. Several establishments in the Alps still offer Kneipp treatments. In the United States, we owe the popularization of hydrotherapy to such an avant-garde and eccentric doctor. This is Dr. John H. Kellogg (1852-1943), brother of the maker of the famous breakfast cereals. Dr. Kellogg has published some fifty books on his approaches – including Rational Hydrotherapy, in 1903, which has gained popularity among naturopaths.

The practice of hydrotherapy and thalassotherapy was very popular in the West until the Second World War, and several European states decided to cover the costs of water cures, under certain conditions. However, the considerable progress of medicine gradually obscured the interest of hydrotherapy. Despite everything, the strong European tradition of thermal cures remains.

In America, there is hardly any thermal tradition. The spas and thalassotherapy centers are fairly recent, generally luxurious and place more emphasis on relaxation and beauty treatments. Rather, it is naturopaths who apply and promote the many forms of hydrotherapy.